The Mole: An Adversary's Adventure
by The Wise Zora
Summary: Twelve strangers from the Mario universe playing for up to 1,000,000 coins that they can earn in challenges that will test them both physically and mentally. Among them however, is a traitor. A saboteur. The mole. The mole's job is to sabotage the group's efforts to earn money while remaining undercover and going unnoticed. Can you figure out who is the mole?
1. The Beginning

**Another Mole story!? Another _Mario_ Mole story? Isn't this, like, the twentieth one? Well in all due honesty, it really is. (*shot*) As usual, this was done out of inspiration from krisetchers, his stories are great, yeah, you probably have heard that _only_ a million times before. XD But if you truly do not know what I am talking about and you haven't heard that a million times before, then I suppose I should explain. If you know the concept and idea behind the show 'The Mole' then you needn't read the following passage (and no, you would _not_ be missing out on a clue XD).**

 **In 'The Mole' there are a group of strangers that must compete in challenges that will test them both physically and mentally. Completing these challenges will add money to the "team pot". All of the challenges, if completed successfully, will add up to a grand total of $1,000,000. However, within this group of strangers is an agent hiding within them all. A saboteur. A traitor. This person is the mole. The mole's job is to sabotage the group's efforts in completing these challenges and keep as much money from going into the team pot as possible. The players will want to know just who this mole is though, because at the end of every episode there is a quiz about who everyone thinks the mole is. The lowest scorer on the quiz is then sent home, and the game continues. This process repeats itself over and over and over again until there is all but three players left remaining. Out of these three, the lowest scorer on the quiz will be determined as the runner-up, the remaining player will win whatever money they had earned from all of the challenges, and the mole's identity will be revealed. If you do not understand it entirely, then I suggest merely looking it up. I also mention the rules fairly early on in the story, so you could also just read on. I also suggest checking out krisetcher's mole stories; you're bound to love them. I also recommend watching the TV show; it really is an amazingly clever game. Currently there are five seasons that have been aired in the US, although I doubt that there will be any more. You can find all of the episodes on YouTube, as well as find many other seasons that have been aired in other countries.**

 **\- DISCLAIMER -**

 **Also, I do not own Mario or The Mole. Each belong to Nintendo and Stone Stanley Entertainment respectively.**

 **And with that out of the way, get your journals ready my friends, for we're going on an adventure. Oh, and happy mole hunting! XD**

* * *

"Well are you ready...mole?" said a shady figure as they slowly began to turn towards the very agent of the game; the mole.

"Ready as I'll ever be," replied the figure somewhat nervously, twiddling their thumbs and looking around at their surroundings nervously.

"Any questions concerning this episode?" replied the other.

They hesitated before finally answering with a wavering and uncertain, "No."

"Good. You know what you've been put up to in this very game. That is a nice start, isn't it now, eh?"

The other figure however, remained absolutely still, before finally replying, "Yes, it is."

"You'll be all right mole," said the other figure while reassuringly patting them on the back.

"Just do what you know and you'll be fine," said the figure once more before whispering, "Good luck," and then hurriedly running away to a nearby building that was in oddly amazing shape despite it being in the middle of a forest.

"I gotta do this. I have to," said the lone figure to them self. Short, sudden breaths could be heard from the frightened agent. They eventually grabbed of what seemed to be a water bottle and began to drink it. They then looked at the rather tall building that the other figure had gone into.

"Well I guess I can't turn back now, can I?," the agent asked no one in particular.

Sighing, they looked at the peculiar building one more time before saying,

"I got this. I got this. I got this," they told themselves repeatedly before finally scurrying off to a nearby van and speeding off. It was time for a battle of wits, deceit, and betrayal to see who could out last the others while trying to uncover the identity of an agent, a saboteur, the traitor among the group. They were none other than the mole.

* * *

A figure can be seen standing deep in a vast jungle, trees towering above them that engulfed the sky and the sun, casting some eerie shadows over the well-known figure. It was none other than Monty Mole, ready to host the game that was about to commence. He was standing straight-up and looking directly at the camera, prepared for everything the game show had in store. It was time to start the game.

"12 strangers playing for up to 1,000,000 coins. Among them a traitor, a saboteur, the mole. The one who wins the money? The one person who answers the simple question," said Monty as he began to look up at the sky and spread his arms wide open. "Who is the mole?"

The camera then started to look at the four different colored vans that were approaching the building. The first van, which had a golden color to it, drove right up to the building, with the very first player that came out of it being a fairly bulky figure with plenty of clothing on. He started off the miniature parade of players arriving by yelling,

"This is gonna be a piece of cake for me!" which ended up startling the other players still inside of the van.

 _ **Player**_ **:** _Crump_

 _ **Surname**_ **:** _Von Grapple_

 _ **Birthday**_ **:** _August_ _29th_

 _ **Occupation**_ **:** _Construction Worker_

A second van, this time the van being one of a deep blue color, drove up to the first van and soon allowed the second player to hop out as automated doors opened themselves up for her. This player was merely happy to be there, and was ready to meet her fellow teammates.

 _ **Player**_ **:** Pauline

 _ **Surname**_ **:** _Actri_

 _ **Birthday**_ **:** _June_ _21st_

 _ **Occupation**_ **:** _Actress_

Another player soon came out of a third van, the van this time being one of a bright green color, who looked at the building and simply said,

"Let's do this!"

 _ **Player**_ **:** _Hammer_ _Bro_

 _ **Surname**_ **:** _Pounder_

 _ **Birthday**_ **:** _May 16th_

 _ **Occupation**_ **:** _Bodyguard_

A fourth player arrived that looked extremely energetic, as well as nervous soon came out of a fourth and final van that was blood red in color. She was talking nervously to herself; she was both excited and anxious for what was to come.

 _ **Player**_ **:** Starlow

 _ **Surname**_ **:** _Shiner_

 _ **Birthday**_ **:** _September 9th_

 _ **Occupation**_ **:** _Secretary_

Going back to the first van with the golden color to it, the fifth player soon came out that looked a little bit nervous about their surroundings and what the game would have in store for them.

 _ **Player**_ **:** _Toad_

 _ **Surname**_ **:** _Shroomoise_

 _ **Birthday**_ **:** _April 3rd_

 _ **Occupation**_ **:** _Cashier_

Yet another player jumped off from the second van and looked around, aware of all their surroundings and carrying a rather mysterious air around themselves.

 _ **Player**_ **:** _Dazzle_

 _ **Surname**_ **:** _Trader_

 _ **Birthday**_ **:** _December 18th_

 _ **Occupation**_ **:** _Accountant_

An ingenious mastermind soon came afterwards, hoping with all of his might that he could win the sinister and deceptive game that he had signed up for so as to test his wit and intelligence to the fullest. Little did he know what he was truly up against.

 _ **Player**_ **:** _Elvin_

 _ **Surname**_ **:** _Gadd_

 _ **Birthday**_ **:** _January 17th_

 _ **Occupation**_ **:** _P_ _sychologist_

Following right behind him was a person of pure kindness and joy, though she tried to contain the fact that she was extremely excited, along with having a sense of dread of what was to come.

 _ **Player**_ **:** _Koopie_

 _ **Surname**_ **:** _Koo_

 _ **Birthday**_ **:** _July 26th_

 _ **Occupation**_ **:** _Botanist_

Another figure soon came out of the first van that was highly known for their great hatred of all things and soon began to strategize already of what he could possibly do to ensure that he could and would win the money.

 _ **Player**_ **:** Fawful

 _ **Surname**_ **:** _Fury_

 _ **Birthday**_ **:** _October 22nd_

 _ **Occupation**_ **:** _Chemist_

Another kind and feeble person came out right afterwards however, and began to nervously think about the other players and whether or not she would like them and vice-versa.

 _ **Player**_ **:** _Dixie_

 _ **Surname**_ **:** _Kong_

 _ **Birthday**_ **:** _February 12th_

 _ **Occupation**_ **:** _Tour Guide_

The final male contestant scrambled out of the third van and looked around, wondering if anyone could possibly beat him in the game, with his lanky and dark demeanor intoxicating the very air surrounding him. The other players looked at him with slight disgust as he clambered out of the bright green van.

 _ **Player**_ **:** _Waluigi_

 _ **Surname**_ **:** _Wario_

 _ **Birthday**_ **:** _March 7th_

 _ **Occupation**_ **:** _Lawyer_

A final contestant stepped out of the fourth and final van, who laughed sinisterly as she jumped out, a plan already in her mind. She was in it to win it, and she certainly didn't plan on losing.

 _ **Player**_ **:** _Beldam_

 _ **Surname**_ **:** _Siren_

 _ **Birthday**_ **:** _November 2nd_

 _ **Occupation**_ **:** _Realtor_

* * *

\- In the Middle of the Forest -

When the players had finally gotten out of all of their vans, they looked around at their surroundings. The trees around them creaked back and forth, the sunlight struggled to meet the very ground, the air still and quiet. The silence started the game off with an eerie feel as the players felt a wave of worry and anxiety, goosebumps travelling up all of their arms, which then stretched down to their backs, some of them shivering as it washed over them. Soon enough however, a figure could be seen walking towards them as the players recognized him as their host. When the figure had reached him, he announced to the players,

"Welcome players, to," pausing for the smallest of moments,"The Mole!"

This was followed up by a plethora of cheers, clapping, and even some whistling from a select few players..

"I shall be your host, the one and only Monty Mole!" he told them, the cheering still continuing.

"I thought that there were a bunch of you guys," pointed out Waluigi.

Now players, while everyone has just gotten here and while we have barely touched on the matter of proper introductions," continued Monty Mole, who was choosing to ignore Waluigi's comment. " I must explain the very rules of this game," spoke Monty Mole when the noise finally started to die down. "The rules of this game are very simple," he said as he began to pace back and forth, his hands holding each other behind his back. It had also fallen completely silent by now, all of the players wanting to hear what he had to say. "The objective in this game is to complete missions for coins that will eventually add up to a grand total of 1,000,000 coins! Well, if you manage to complete all of the missions successfully, that is," he told them, a grin starting to form at the corner of his mouth.

This statement received lots of surprised looks, with many of the players already imagining how they would spend all of the money. With this however, came some thoughts of where the catch would come in.

"These missions will test you both physically and mentally, as well as testing your trust in the other players and your own greed. For every mission that is completed successfully, a specific amount of coins will be added to the team pot, which is where all of your earnings shall be stored. There shall be approximately three challenges and one bonus challenge per episode. And of course, the winner at the end of the game will be the one who will get the great pleasure and honor of taking it all home. However, it isn't as easy as it sounds, and there are probably some questions that are running through your minds right now. For among the twelve of you here, one of you here is a mole. A person that has been selected from all of you by us that is here only to sabotage the group's efforts to earn money. They are the agent hiding within you all."

This received even more surprised looks while others began to look closely and carefully at the other players, all of them looking as if they thought they could figure out the mole's identity just by closely inspecting everyone.

"Of course, while the mole _is_ trying to sabotage the groups efforts to add money to the team pot, they will also be trying their hardest to remain undercover. It is important though, to know who the mole is because after every episode there will be a 10-question quiz about the mole. The lowest scorer on the quiz will be executed, or eliminated from the game. In the end, the mole will get all of the coins that they kept out of the team pot. The game will end after a 20-question quiz about the mole with only three players left remaining. A winner, the runner-up, and most importantly, the mole. Of course, there are many ways you can move on in the game. You could try to snag all of the exemptions, a useful tool that allows you to automatically move on to the next episode, even if you were the one who was supposed to be executed. You could form a coalition with someone, which is an alliance that you can use to exchange information. To get closer to finding the very identity of the mole. Or, you could betray them, and lead them to believe that some of the other players that you know aren't the mole, could be the mole. Or perhaps you could lead them to believe that you yourself are the mole. There are countless strategies, but only one will prevail," he then took in a sharp breath after his miniature speech.

The players were completely mystified. Not of the host's explanation of the game, but rather just _who_ could be this mole. They remained intrigued by this question until Monty finally spoke again.

"Well," he said as he clasped his hands together. "it seems as though our ride has arrived!" announced their host as he began to walk up to the slowly descending helicopter. The helicopter was enormous, it's color a dark shade of gray. The green mole logo had been spray painted on the front of it, the logo almost as large as the side of the helicopter that it was on. Monty then began ushering people on the now grounded mechanism and then closed the door behind him as he began to make his way to the front of the helicopter.

The players found the seats to be extremely comfortable as they all began to carefully select their seats. The players were just beginning to find comfort in their seats when Monty suddenly announced,

"With all explanations of the game out of the way, welcome players to your first challenge!"

This took many of the players by surprise, with the looks on their faces making it even more evident of their bewilderment.

"Wait, I thought we were just about to go to Petalburg. I mean, we just got here!" complained the female koopa, Koopie.

"Well, we _are_ going to Petalburg. We're just getting there in a _different_ way," replied the literal mole, his face revealing a large grin that seemed as if it had been plastered on his face.

"Well I"M ready for this!" exclaimed the second in-command of the X-Nauts, who was none other than the loud and boisterous Crump.

Many of the other players winced in pain at Crump's volcanic volume level. Of course, Monty was hardly fazed at all; he didn't even so much as blink. Soon after Crump's eruptive comment, he turned to face the players.

"All you have to do," he started as he began to pick up a bill blaster that had been lying on the floor, "is take aim at the currently red target outside the helicopter and shoot it down with a bullet bill. It will not chase the target, but instead it will travel in a straight line. You must hit all the target that will be designated for you and then, you must jump off the helicopter and onto that large area of grass down there. Don't worry, you'll be able to use parachutes and we will have trained professionals help ensure that no harm comes any of your ways. Please keep in mind that the targets will get more and more difficult to hit with every person that goes. You have fifteen minutes to complete this mission. If everyone manages to hit the target _and_ jump off of the helicopter successfully, 30,000 coins will be put into the team pot. However, one person may use a banzai blaster instead of the regular bill blaster. For those of you who do not know, the banzai bill blaster fires banzai bills, which are significantly larger then bullet bills. Unfortunately, only one person can use the banzai blaster or else the team will be penalized. I'd now like you all to determine your order and who will get to use the banzai blaster. You will have twenty seconds to determine this. Your time shall start right... now," finished Monty as he pulled up his sleeve to look at his watch.

As soon as Monty finished explaining the instructions, the players immediately began to determine the order, their decisions frantic and not very well thought out as the surprise of the very first challenge had took them all of guard.

"Okay, so who wants to go first?" asked the damsel in distress, who was none other than the widely known Pauline.

"Me," spoke Waluigi and Crump simultaneously.

They both glared at the other, waiting for the other person to back down from the wondrous "honor" that they both wanted for themselves.

"I've worked with bob-ombs my entire life, and with that comes great knowledge of bullet bills as well," argued the lanky man, Waluigi.

"Really? I doubt that you could even pick that up," pointed out Crump as he gestured towards the bill blaster.

"What!" exclaimed Waluigi. "That's stupid! Of _course_ I could pick that up!

"Well then why don't you give it a try?" grinned Crump as he slammed the bill blaster into Waluigi's hands.

Waluigi buckled to his knees from the force Crump had exerted on the bill blaster, unable to get up. However, after a few moments, he managed to get up from the position he had been forced into for a few moments.

"Hey! That wasn't even kind of fair! You pushed down on it as I was trying to pick it up!" accused Waluigi.

"Is this your way of trying to prove that you really _can_ do it? By accusing me of pushing down on it? That's weak," scoffed Crump.

" _I'm_ weak?! So you, the one who resigns and fails to understand that I'm the one calling the shots around here, the one who pushed the blaster down on me, the one who's stalling the whole group by trying to go first, is calling _me_ weak. That's pathetic," spat Waluigi.

"Wait, so _I'm_ the one who's stalling the group! I believe that _you're_ stalling the group Mr.-"

" _STOP!_ " screamed Dixie. " _Both_ of you are stalling the group. We haven't even begun to determine who's going when! You guys can argue later, just not _now_ ," silenced Dixie.

Waluigi and Crump merely glared at each other for a few long moments before Waluigi eventually stormed off back to his seat, multiple curses of sorts being muttered from under his breath.

The other players all sighed in relief; the argument had passed for the moment.

"Well I'll go second," stated Dazzle.

"Third," said Koopie who, quite frankly, wanted to get it over with.

"Fourth," continued Dixie, who was still wary of anyone else getting into an argument.

"You have five seconds left," warned Monty.

"Oh great," muttered Hammer Bro. "Everyone just take a placement! Fifth."

"Sixth"

"Seventh."

"Eighth."

"Ninth, and I'll take the banzai blaster," blurted out Starlow just before Monty announced,

"Time is up. I'm afraid that the rest of you will have your order randomized. And with that, let the mission... begin!" he exclaimed before jumping out of the helicopter, startling the other players with the very little warning he had given them.

Almost immediately, Crump snatched the bill blaster and began to take aim at the bright red target outside. The target was fairly close to the helicopter, with the target itself seeming as if it was hovering in the air. Thankfully, the helicopter had stopped moving and was now hovering over the same spot, thus making the challenge slightly easier and much more plausible. Suddenly, a blast was heard, and Crump was heading towards the parachutes while giving the blaster to Dazzle, who realized that the new target was now a slightly darker shade of red and now ever so slightly farther back. Taking careful aim similarly to how Crump had done it, Dazzle aimed it at the target and pulled the trigger, watching it sail harmlessly past the target. Wordlessly, she prepared another one, this time aiming it a little bit off the target in hopes that it might then hit the target. A **BAM** was heard, as the target was blasted into smithereens as Dazzle handed the blaster to Koopie and with a slight smile on her face, jumped off of the helicopter.

"Oh boy," Koopie grumbled to herself. She was prepared to have a lot of failures before finding any success. The target was now bright orange, the color harder to see in the broad daylight. So naturally, when she first aimed and fired at the target, she missed it by an outrageous amount. The second time the shot could be heard, the bullet still missed, but just barely as Koopie groaned at her near-miss. The third shot that was heard had the satisfactory **BAM** as Koopie jumped up from her success. She then quickly handed it to Dixie, who struggled to hold the blaster up.

"This is...heavy!" complained the monkey.

Dixie, who was still struggling to lift the blaster, tried her very best to shoot at the now yellow target, hoping that she could manage to hit it by mere luck. Firing two shots accidentally, she watched both bullet bills miss by quite a large margin. Setting the blaster down, she tried to catch her breath from the impact from firing the bullet bills.

"Sorry, I just need...to catch my breath," Dixie explained to the others in-between breaths.

The remaining player exchanged looks as time continued to go down. After a few moments however, Dixie shook off the pain it was giving her. After two more random shots, Dixie set down the blaster with a thud and began to rest some more.

"I can't do this guys!" groaned Dixie.

The others then waited for her as time began to run out. Looks were exchanged as it took Dixie quite some time before she finally got back up again.

"Yes! I did it guys!" announced Dixie, the others cheering for her as she hit the target dead on.

Heading over to the door that was awaiting her, she made the huge mistake of looking down.

"Ughhhh," she moaned to herself as she tried to decide what to do.

Meanwhile, Hammer Bro, who had volunteered to go fifth, picked up the blaster with great ease due to his cannonball muscles and took careful aim at the target. When he was near certain that he was correct on his aim he fired and watched the bullet bill fly harmlessly _right_ beside the target. With the others inhaling sharply at the near miss, Hammer Bro once again took careful aim at the target before firing, this time with the bullet nailing the target right in the bulls-eye. Handing the blaster to Beldam as the others cheered for his success, Beldam held the blaster up with surprising strength and fired two shots. Both of them sailed past the target on different sides, resulting in a slightly frustrated Beldam. Using the rest of her strength, she managed to hit the target on her third try as she ran towards the pile of parachutes.

* * *

\- Nine minutes and fourteen seconds remaining -

The other players however, had a much harder time. The targets were close up again, except now they were moving. The colors of the targets were now a dark shade of sea green, the target slowly moving in midair. Fawful, who was way too small for the bill blaster, struggled immensely with even so much as attempting to try to lift the bill blaster. To make it even worse, Fawful took a total of three tries before he just _barely_ clipped it on his fourth shot.

Pauline sighed in both relief and fear as it became her turn to go. She quickly grabbed the bill blaster that Fawful had merely thrown back onto the ground from a lack of any strength and quickly began to aim at the sea green colored target. Unfortunately for her, the target was slightly farther back now, while still moving perhaps even a little bit quicker than it had before. The group winced as they watched four bullet bills sail past the target, all of them missing. Finally, on the fifth shot that was fired, the target was shattered into pieces, and the remaining players cheered for their fellow teammate.

Starlow, with great difficulty, somehow managed to lift her blaster which was the banzai blaster, only to let it fall with a thud back onto the ground.

"How am I supposed to do this?!" shouted Starlow as she attempted to pick up the blaster once more.

The others watched Starlow suffer as she started to attempt to fire at the target and missed shot after shot after shot, all of them failures.

"I can't... I can't do this," moaned the weary Starlow.

She began to start getting up again when something caught her eye. A switch was hidden underneath the main part of the blaster, hidden among many other components. A note was taped down right by the switch, which Starlow began to read sideways from the angle the banzai blaster was at.

"For a price of 1,000 coins, you may turn on this switch to enable the banzai blaster to have banzai bills that will "chase" the target, and will hit the target indefinitely. Choose wisely..."

Starlow gasped as she began to read it.

"Guys, look! This mission isn't impossible!" exclaimed Starlow as the players that were still left remaining came over to see what Starlow had just discovered.

"Wait, so you want to use this?" asked Toad as he finished reading it.

"Yeah," responded Starlow.

"Even though you have the banzai blaster?" questioned Toad.

"It certainly isn't doing anything to help me. In fact, it's probably hurting me if anything," countered Starlow.

A few moments of silence passed before Toad finally sighed and gave in to Starlow's plea.

"Fine."

"Is that okay with you guys?" Starlow asked as she turned towards E. Gadd and Waluigi.

"Fine by me," was the reply from the old man, a crooked grin on his face.

"Yeah, sure. Can you go now?" ushered an impatient Waluigi, who was starting to get nervous about the time limit.

"Okay then," Starlow said to herself as hefted the banzai blaster onto her back after flipping on the switch.

"I wonder if that switch is on the regular one too?" Toad asked no one in particular as he walked over to the fallen bill blaster.

"Sorry lad. Gotta wait 'till your turn," instructed the goomba.

Another **BAM** was heard, much louder than any of the other blasts. Starlow then scurried off to her parachute and the assistant, trying not to think about the huge jump she was just about to make.

"Now listen up," came a gravely voice from the passengers seat in the helicopter. A goomba soon stood up from the seat, a green hat on his head and sunglasses covering his eyes. "I'm here in place of Mr. Mole so y'all better listen up. I be telling ye the order in which the rest of ye be goin'. First up is Toad ," announced the odd goomba, who was one of the producers of the show.

Toad quickly picked up the blaster, inspecting it for any sign of a switch similar to the one on the banzai blaster.

"Yep, it's on this one too," Toad announced to the other two players.

The switch had the same bright red color to it as the one on the banzai blaster had, and the same note was taped right by the switch.

Toad, who had been planning to use the "chase" option took one look at the target before pulling the trigger. The target was a dark shade of blue and was now starting to move at a moderately fast rate at a moderately long distance from the helicopter. Toad sighed in relief as the bullet bill blasted the target, thanking the "chase" option for getting him out of wasting a ton bullet bills and time.

"Next up would be a Mr. Gadd," announced their temporary host.

E. Gadd was soon handed the bill blaster, with the switch being turned off the moment he got his hands on it.

"Trying to go for it old man?" asked Waluigi.

E. Gadd turned subtly to face him. "It's always nice having a little bit of a challenge," he explained while still grinning.

"Well, have fun with that," spoke the lanky man while chuckling, and laying back in his cozy chair.

"And I'm certain I will," was E. Gadd's reply as he took careful aim at the moving target.

"Do you honestly think that you can- " **BAM** , the explosion cutting off Waluigi.

E. Gadd returned with an even wider grin on his face when he gave the blaster to Waluigi.

"Think you can top that, sonny boy?" dared E. Gadd as he began to head towards the parachutes.

Waluigi's stunned face amused the goomba.

"Don't be underest'mating the power of the old ones," advised goomba through a toothy grin.

Through clenched teeth, Waluigi readied himself and began to aim at the blindingly fast target. It was now the farthest from the helicopter than it had ever been before, the target now a moving blur. It was a dark shade of purple, the shade similar to the exterior of Waluigi's clothes that covered his arms and his hat.

"We'll see who's laughing after this," Waluigi told himself as he prepared his shot and... missed.

Waluigi raged as the goomba chuckled at him, amused at his failure.

"You're not helping me!" accused Waluigi as he pointed his finger at the goomba.

The goomba stopped laughing, but a smug grin still remained plastered on his face. Groaning and muttering curses under his breath, he quickly came back to his senses and began to prepare for yet another shot. _He probably didn't even notice,_ Waluigi thought to himself about the old man as he grinned to himself.

* * *

\- On land, One minute and fourteen seconds remaining –

"Yep, he missed," answered Hammer Bro as he watched with binoculars a bullet bill flying past the target, making some of the others laugh.

E. Gadd was still keeping on the same grin he had kept on the whole game so far, laughing to himself a little bit.

"Well players, he only has one minute and three seconds left, or else no money will be awarded," announced Monty.

The players' laughs started to die down quickly, as the players soon began to see just how difficult this last target was. More and more bullet bills could be seen flying past the target, making some of the players quite worried. Time was running out, and their hopes of getting the money slowly dwindled. The only player that was still grinning, was of course, E. Gadd, the same grin getting only wider and wider.

* * *

-On the helicopter, forty-three seconds remaining-

Waluigi was beginning to give up; he had missed a total of five times so far. He eventually resorted to putting down the bill blaster, only to rage more yet again.

"Not to anger you anymore lad," spoke a voice that Waluigi presumed to be the goomba. "but I don't think ye got much time left on ye," advised the goomba.

Waluigi sighed deeply, before coming to the conclusion that the goomba was right. He needed to hurry up. A look of determination could then be seen inscribed in Waluigi's face, a face that looked practically unstoppable.

"I'll show you E. Gadd! I'll show all of you!" exclaimed the lanky man.

He then started to fire again. He fired two quick shots, both of which _barely_ missing. He then took in a deep breath, concentrated on the target, closed his eyes, and then fired. **BAM** , the explosion shocked Waluigi, as he jumped up in success.

"You still have to jump, you know that, right? 'Cause if you don't reach land before time is up, you'll still lose the money," cautioned the goomba.

Waluigi quickly spotted the last parachute remaining and his helper and ran to them, trying to get out as fast and as soon as possible. It was just a few seconds before he was out of the helicopter, gliding down to the ground.

* * *

-On land-

Waluigi was panting as he sprinted over towards Monty. All of the other players were cheering for Waluigi, all of them proud of him for not using the "chase" option on the hardest target in the mission. He quickly joined the others, all of them cheering for their success.

"Congratulations players, for getting every single one of you down here and as a bonus, unharmed," announced Monty, the players still cheering. "However, there is still the matter of whether or not you guys managed to complete the challenge in time," spoke Monty, completely silencing the players cheers. "You guys managed to complete the mission in...," Monty paused for the extra effect. "A total of fourteen minutes and fifty-three seconds!" he finished.

The players cheered, triumphant at their very first victory.

"For this," began Monty. "30,000 coins will be put into the team pot."

The players continued to cheer even louder, and Hammer Bro even started whistling.

"However," continued Monty, once again silencing the players. "I will have to deduct a total of 2,000 coins from that total, due to Starlow and Toad deciding to use the "chase" option located on the bullet and banzai blasters. For those of you who do not know, there was a switch on the back of both of the blasters that made the bullet or banzai bill directly aim for the target. Doing this however, would subtract 1,000 coins from the team pot every time it was used. So, only 28,000 coins will be put into the team pot, but that is still a great start," finished Monty.

 **Amount Added** **:** _28,000/30,000 coins_

 **Team Pot** **:** _28,000/30,000 coins_

Cheers still followed his announcement, but several glances were cast Starlow and Toad's ways.

"But players, we must still head on to our first location, Petalburg. We have reservations for a fine hotel and we wouldn't want to miss it! I thought that rather than taking the helicopter there, we might miss some of the views that we can get down here. So please, enjoy yourselves, and remember, the mole is always watching. Watching every little bit of movement each and every single one of you makes. Other than that, enjoy the lovely walk there and converse with the others! After all, you'll be seeing each other everyday, so you may as well befriend them. You are free to go," finished Monty as the players began to talk among themselves. "Oh, and players," he called once more, drawing the attention of all the contestants towards himself. "We have one more thing for you all to do before we proceed with our journey.

"And what might that be?" asked Pauline, who was practically speaking for everyone.

A smile began to form on his mouth once more as he motioned towards a group of camera men.

"Something truly exciting, Pauline. We will be having you all do...interviews!" he told them as they began to head over to the group of producers.

* * *

Koopie: What a great start. Right away, we've had to jump out of a helicopter _and_ two of the guys already started bickering over who gets to go first. This really is going to be an interesting experience for me, isn't it?

Beldam: Dixie had wasted quite a bit of time by trying to regain some stamina. Of course, the moment she gets back on her feet she hit the target on the bulls-eye in one shot without any trouble at all. Now t _hat_ was suspicious.

Dixie: Despite being a tour guide, I still absolutely _hate_ heights. That moment of when I looked down at the ground was absolutely terrifying. And right before that, when I was struggling to shoot my target down, it truly was genuine. Although, I don't think that the others really believe me when I say that.

Starlow: People, even before I started my interview, were accusing me of wasting a lot of time and some money by using the banzai blaster. But it really was genuine! I only took the banzai blaster because I knew that I would have trouble shooting the target down. I had no idea of how heavy that thing would actually be. Honest.

Pauline: People are looking so much at the people who sabotaged, but why not take a look at the other people that did some other strange things? Crump and Waluigi stalled the group plenty of time in deciding who would go first, which could've given more time to determine who's strong and who isn't, which could've then prevented 2,000 coins from being lost.

Dazzle: I thought it was interesting how Hammer Bro, when we were deciding the order, just said that everyone should just take a random place and hope for the best. I'm not too sure what he was exactly thinking at that point, seeing as how it probably messed us up by leaving all of the weakest people go last due to the stronger people volunteering to go earlier.

Crump: I dunno what's up with that Waluigi guy, but he messed us up big time. He almost cost us the whole game. Just a few more seconds and we would've lost the game altogether. And he just _had_ to argue with me that he actually was a man, which he isn't.

Hammer Bro: The fact that Koopie seemed to know where we were going before Monty even said anything was really weird. I mean, we were in the middle of a forest, how in the world could she have known that? Either she's just _really_ familiar with the area, or she's hiding something from us.

Elvin: I think that rather than pointing fingers at anybody for what happened during the challenge, I think that we should all just _relax_. It is a game after all, why not enjoy it while it lasts. *laughing* Although, I do believe that it's too early to decipher just exactly who this mole is. While it's still this early in the game, it could very well be just about anyone.

Waluigi: It's completely ridiculous that that old man managed to hit that target in one shot! If I just had his position in the lineup, I would've been able to do that in one shot myself! But really, how in the world did he do that in one shot? Well whatever, I was just going to point out here, that when it was Toad's turn to go, he just used the "chase" option right away. I mean, at least Starlow _tried_ , but Toad didn't even bother. Just seemed a little fishy to me.

Toad: I'm not too sure why, but I just had this feeling up there when I was about to go. I felt that I was going to miss the target, and I knew that we were running out of time. Everyone was giving me some kind of look, but I mean, I practically _saved_ the challenge from being a complete failure by hitting the target in one go.

Fawful: People are pointing fingers at the people who sabotaged, but why not look towards the ones who didn't do anything at all? If I were the mole, which I'm not, I don't think that I would be too keen on trying to sabotage the first challenge, or even during the course of the entire first episode. No, instead I'm looking at the people who are trying to act all innocent, but really, Fawful knows just what they're up to. Heheheheheheheheh! I have chortles!

* * *

The players then started to absorb all of the details that surrounded them; the trees were covered in long, green leaves, with each one looking nearly identical. The ground was strangely smooth in some parts, but extremely hilly in other areas. Streams were all around, and there were even a few forts that were still left around from what the players presumed to be a more medieval period of time. The sun was still high in the sky, the sky itself a shade of light blue with a few light, puffy clouds. A cool breeze swept through the air, refreshing some of the players that were hot from the mission. Stones were littered everywhere, usually in large groups where they all clustered together. It was a strangely peaceful area, the air refreshing and cool. Silence passed over the group multiple times, all of them fascinated by nature itself. After a time however, the players began to split up into little groups and, more and more, started talking of the mole.

"I wonder how they feel about all of this," wondered Starlow out loud.

"Who?" asked Pauline.

"The mole. I mean, they'll have to make sure that they don't get too attached to anyone, or else they'll end up losing it at the end when they know they were the main cause of everyone's death in the game," explained Starlow.

Silence ensued between them as Pauline pondered the thought.

"You know, I never thought of it like that. I'm still completely clueless as to who they are though," admitted Pauline.

"The same goes for me. It could be anyone... even Monty Mole!" joked Starlow.

The duo laughed, both of them entertained by the thought of Monty being the mole.

Meanwhile, Koopie was teaching Dixie about the small town of Petalburg.

"So how did you know that we were going to Petalburg at the beginning?" asked Dixie.

"Well, Petalburg is my hometown, and I've memorized all of the areas around it. So, I managed to take a good guess that Petalburg was where we were headed judging from the forest that we were in when the game began," explained Koopie.

"Oh. What's it like there?" asked Dixie.

"It's a small town, with a pretty small population. It's practically as peaceful as it is out here, so it's certainly not a bustling city. The residents there are all nice, and practically everyone knows everyone else. It's just that the town is almost a little _too_ small, so when a store gets robbed, we rarely have anyone to go and try to get them," described Koopie.

"Well, I guess they'll have a hard time catching the mole there, right?" joked Dixie.

Koopie smiled with Dixie at her joke, but her smile showed just a hint of uneasiness.

"You're worried, aren't you?" asked Dixie.

Koopie sighed and replied,

"Yeah. It kind of scares me that someone is out here to get all of us."

"Yeah well, they might have a hard time getting you out in your own hometown," pointed out Dixie.

Again, Koopie smiled, but the uneasiness still showed in her smile.

"Besides, it's only the beginning of the episode. The execution probably won't be held until a couple of days have passed," pointed out Dixie once again.

Koopie hesitated.

"Yeah, I guess your right," replied Koopie, the uneasiness still coming through her voice.

During their conversation however, a different group of players were discussing the mole.

"So, who do you guys think the mole is?" asked Toad.

"Do you honestly think that I would just give that information to you out of nowhere?" answered Crump harshly. "You do realize that even one of us in this small group could be the mole, right? And how do I know that _you're_ not the mole, huh?"

"I just wanted to know...," replied Toad as he seemed to shrink down in his very position from the random anger that was soon being directed at him.

"Now, what did the poor lad do wrong?" defended E. Gadd "All he wanted was some information that he probably very well knew was either going to be wrong or a lie. If you're not going to help the poor lad out, then you may as well leave," pointed out E. Gadd.

Grumbling something under his breath that was undecipherable, Crump left the group and headed over towards Fawful and Beldam.

"Sorry about that lad," apologized E. Gadd

"No, it wasn't your fault," replied Toad. "Besides, I don't think he's even a very nice guy anyway just naturally."

"No, probably not," agreed E. Gadd

"Anyway, who do _you_ think is the mole?" asked Toad.

"I have my suspicions. Mind you, I don't think I'll share my suspicions with you," answered E. Gadd

"Oh," replied Toad, who looked as if he were slightly disappointed at the answer he had been given.

"However, I do believe that the mole probably didn't sabotage that first mission. After all, what use would it give them? They would have the spotlight fixated on them, making it quite obvious. On the other hand however, perhaps such an obvious sabotage so early on would actually have the reverse effect and drive people away from such an obvious sabotage," admitted E. Gadd, his voice drifting away at the end of his sentence. "But you probably shouldn't even be trusting me lad; even I could be the mole!" advised E. Gadd as he chuckled at his statement.

Toad laughed nervously with him, fearing that what he said could actually come out to be true.

Far off to the right of the main group of players were Fawful and Beldam, who were thinking of plans silently in their heads for how to maneuver through the game using an array of both clever and cunning strategies. The duo were completely silent, right up until Crump started running over to them.

"What is it that you desire from us?" asked Fawful without bothering to look his way.

"Some peace, quiet, and some space," snapped Crump.

"So why did you bother coming over here then?" questioned Beldam.

Crump, although the others couldn't see it due to his many layers of clothing all over his body, grinned at the space ahead of him.

"Well, you two seem like my kind of people just by the looks of you two. You know, we _could_ make an alliance and gang up against all of the others. Then we could duke it out when it's just the three of us and the mole. How about that?" suggested Crump.

Silence was the response he got, followed by looks exchanged between Fawful and Beldam. Finally, Fawful spoke out,

"Maybe, but certainly not yet. I must consider this option of whether or not to join forces with the two of you."

"I'm afraid I'll have to say the same," agreed Beldam.

Grumbling under his breath, Crump muttered,

"Fine," and left the duo to think about the offer he had just given them.

The others however, who happened to be Waluigi, Hammer Bro, and Dazzle, traveled in complete silence, none of them exactly eager to talk. Dazzle soon fell behind the pack though to look more closely at one of the oddly shaped stones, leaving Waluigi and Hammer Bro alone.

"Nice job at getting that last target during the mission," suddenly spoke out Hammer Bro after taking a sip of water from a water bottle he had with him.

"Meh," was the only reply Hammer Bro received from Waluigi.

Silence passed over the duo once again, Hammer Bro unable to make conversation with the rather peculiar and lanky man.

"Do you think that the mole sabotaged that first mission that we had?" asked Hammer Bro.

Waluigi sighed, before giving Hammer Bro a different answer than along the lines of what he had been expecting from him.

"Do you honestly think that I'm just gonna give you information like that?!" exclaimed Waluigi. "Whether your an ordinary player, a mastermind, or the mole, I don't care. I am _not_ going to be giving you precious information like that."

A bit taken off guard, Hammer Bro fell silent and walked away from Waluigi. He no longer wanted to converse with the lanky man, and Waluigi felt the same way with him.

They were almost to the village when the group finally merged back together again, silence once again taking over the group. The town was just about what Koopie had described it as; a small, yet peaceful place with flowers blooming everywhere. There were only a few buildings in the area, the houses usually coming in very basic colors of blue, red, green, yellow, and pink. Crops surrounded several of the houses, with some of the plants almost as tall as some of the houses. A stream went through part of the town, a few stone bridges connecting the main chunk of land to a small island that rose high above the stream. The townsfolk there mainly consisted of Toads, Koopas, and many other oddball creatures of all sorts and kinds. A local shop nearby displayed some odd delicacies that many of the players had never seen before in their whole lives. Monty soon directed the players to go to a small hotel that was placed just north of the ever gently flowing stream. When the players arrived at the doorstep to the hotel, a black van with the mole logo spray painted on it drove up to them, the players gazing at it curiously.

"Players," announced Monty once he had caught up to the players. "I'm afraid that all of your luggage must be put into all of these bags," said Monty while gesturing towards a load of bags that all had the mole logo on it. Each player had their name on one of the bags, making it very evident who had what bag. "All of the rest of your luggage is inside the van as well, but make sure to only pack the things you need, or else you may regret it later," advised Monty.

The players soon began to retrieve their bags, trying to fit as much of their stuff that they could put into the tight bags as possible. Once everyone had finished moving all of their stuff into the new bags, the group headed inside, eager for a break after their very tiring walk. When the players walked into the hotel, they were a bit surprised, for the hotel was surprisingly luxurious. The couches were a bright red color, the walls a color similar to one of pure gold. Large windows were all around the spacious hotel. The floor was sparkling clean, and Dazzle even saw the reflections of some her gems that she had on her odd, blue hat.

"Do you have reservations?" politely asked the green Toad at the desk.

"We would be from the game show, The Mole," answered Monty just as politely.

The Toad looked at the list that was on his computer for a few moments before saying,

"Ah yes. Mr. Mole. You shall have rooms 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, and 105."

The Toad then handed him the six keys that were needed for the rooms.

"Enjoy yourselves," the Toad told the group.

Monty nodded politely at him while smiling and then gave the players five of the keys.

"You may divide yourselves up in the five rooms however you like, but no more than three players may be in a room together. So please, sit back and relax while you still can," Monty told them.

The players did a light cheer and then proceeded to choose rooms. Unfortunately, a good deal of the players failed to recognize the end of Monty's final sentence. They would learn of their mistake later on. If they made it any farther, that is.

* * *

\- Room 100: Pauline, Starlow, and Dazzle -

The trio were discussing the matter of the mole and found that they all had strangely similar suspects and tactics of how to move on in the game without being executed.

"You know, we could form a coalition, the three of us," suggested Starlow.

"That sounds great, actually," agreed Pauline.

Dazzle however, fell silent and looked down at the polished flooring. Eventually, she looked back up at them, with a bit of a solemn face.

"I'm not too sure that I'll join," turned down Dazzle as she looked back down at the floor again.

Silence passed over the other two.

"Are you sure?" asked Starlow.

There was no response from Dazzle.

"All right then," muttered Starlow as she sighed in disappointment.

The duo that were working together soon however, got over it and began to share their suspicions with one another.

Pauline: I'm not too sure why Dazzle rejected our coalition idea. We were becoming good friends, but then she seemed like she suddenly became another person in a matter of seconds. I wonder what she's up to...

Starlow: Pauline is absolutely baffling me; all of her suspects are the most obvious people so far. We had some similar suspicions at the beginning, but now she's whipping out some weirder choices. Maybe I shouldn't have made a coalition so early on in the game...

Dazzle: I didn't really want to team up with them mainly just for their own safety, as well as mine. Besides, I'm all that certain if making coalitions with other people, especially so early on, is such a great idea.

* * *

\- Room 101: Fawful, Hammer Bro, and Crump -

Inside room 101 lied possibly the three most diverse players in the whole game, leading to silence between the three of them. All that could really be heard was the scribbles of them writing in their journals, the long silence deafening. Although the players couldn't see the others in the room from looking down at their journals, they all kept on feeling like one of the others was looking at them, each one wondering if the mole was in their very room.

"I'm gonna go go to the bathroom," called out Hammer Bro, the silence finally broken.

The other two players nodded their heads as Hammer Bro walked out of the room. The moment the door closed again, Crump told Fawful,

"So, about that coalition, would you want to work together to find this mole?"

Fawful sighed in response, shaking his head.

"Just give just a little bit more time," Fawful responded bitterly.

"Fine," groaned Crump, who was obviously let down by his response.

The two said nothing else to the other for several minutes, right up until Hammer Bro entered the room again.

"Man, even the bathrooms here are sparkling clean," he informed them.

There was no response.

"You guys all right?" he asked as he sat down on his bed.

Silence followed his question once more. He then shrugged as he began to write again in his journal.

Crump: I need to get Fawful to join me. There's a really good chance that I could survive a lot longer with that guy by my side. The only downside to that strategy is that I think he also has a good chance of beating me, but that can be arranged to be neglected. Buh huh huh huh huh huh...

Hammer Bro: These two are both being really weird. Both of them seem like they're scheming up something together. I gotta be careful around those two...

Fawful: While it would be nice to have Crump by my side, I really do need some more time before I start to work with him. After all, it is quite an important decision, and I need to know how I'm going to have this little alliance between us go.

* * *

\- Room 102: Dixie, Koopie, and Beldam -

Meanwhile, Dixie and Koopie were chatting away in the noisy room while Beldam wrote silently in her journal. The duo that were chatting together were discussing many things, ranging from the game, to their personal lifestyles, to the hotel that they were currently residing in, both fully aware that the other might just be the very agent of the game.

"Yeah, its pretty nice," admitted Dixie, the topic currently geared towards their room and the lovely decor.

They both glanced then at Beldam, who didn't seem to notice them in the slightest.

"What do you feel about Beldam?" whispered Dixie.

"She seems cold and evil, and yet she's all smiles everywhere she goes," replied Koopie.

"I'm getting that same feeling too," Dixie whispered back.

Silence.

"Do you think that she could be the mole?" asked Koopie.

"I don't know..." was all that Dixie could utter.

The duo then continued their earlier conversation, trying to get as far away from the topic concerning Beldam as they could.

Koopie: I'm not too sure what to make of either of my roommates; they both are pretty suspicious. Dixie is a lot kinder than Beldam is, but I keep on getting this gut feeling that she might just be the mole. After all, she would be perfect for it... but on the other hand, Beldam seems to bathe in suspicion, as she continuously seems to change her personality. Right now, I don't really trust or suspect anyone.

Dixie: I think that Koopie and I are getting along well. But the problem is, I think that she could possibly be the mole. I want to believe Koopie in that she's not the mole, but I'm still not all that certain yet. I just need a little bit more information, that's all.

Beldam: Well, have I got some interesting info now. Those fools didn't even bother to think that I could hear them. They shouldn't be underestimating my sense of hearing, mwee hee hee hee!

* * *

\- Room 103: E. Gadd and Toad -

In a room that was right next to the other rooms before them, E. Gadd and Toad discussed important matters concerning the game.

"So, who do you think the mole is?" asked Toad.

"Now now Toad my boy, we must let the mole reveal themselves, not let ourselves try to reveal them," responded E. Gadd

"Oh, okay," said a disappointment and slightly confused Toad.

"Just wait a while longer, enjoy this wild experience, and the answer might just come right to you, waiting right at your doorstop," advised E. Gadd

Toad pondered the thought, mulling over it several times.

"Well they better come knocking at our door soon," Toad muttered to himself as he gazed out the window, already wanting to escape the game's perils.

E. Gadd: I'm here for the experience, not the money. The point of this game is obviously supposed to make its players feel lost, confused, and alone. I don't want Toad to fall under that kind of pressure, especially with that coin prize hanging over his head. I want him to get to the final round and win with pride and joy, not sadness and despair over his friends and the many trials he will most likely have to endure.

Toad: I'm not all that certain about this E. Gadd guy. I'm still trying to figure out if he's actually trying to help me, or if he's just trying to confuse me. Oh brother, I'm already lost in this game.

* * *

\- Room 105: Waluigi -

"Well, it looks like you strangely get a room all to yourself," the host told Waluigi as he looked over at the producers behind the camera man.

"I have it all to myself?!" exclaimed Waluigi, an enormous grin on his face.

"Yes you do. Good night,' the host answered as he walked back towards the door. "And beware of the mole," he warned before slamming the door shut.

Rolling his eyes at Monty's comment, Waluigi brought out his journal and scribbled something in it. After a few moments however, he soon looked back up and asked,

"Hey, you guys gonna leave sometime soon or what?" he asked the camera men.

"Uh...sir, we're supposed to film what you do," responded the lead camera man.

"Ugh..." sighed Waluigi. "I see how some privacy will be difficult to get in this game," noted the lanky man as he propped his journal open again and threw it onto the bed.

Waluigi: Wah ha ha! This game is looking just _too_ easy so far. I'm a gonna win for sure! Wah ha ha ha! Now, if only I could get some privacy around here...

* * *

\- 1:00 AM, Outside of the Hotel -

Much later at night, when all of the players had finally gone to bed, Monty and some others gathered together outside of the hotel. They were trading information, each one of them giving the others instructions for an event. Finally, after their conversations had ceased, Monty picked up a small box that made clunking noises inside until he set it down on the ground and opened it. He then started putting spherical shapes that had been inside the box and then started putting them in different objects, each one of them completely identical. Every object only received one spherical object before the object was given to some of the producers of the show, who would then run off and put the objects in a large pile of identical objects. Monty could then be seen spreading his arms out wide and looking up at the sky, whose color could remind one of a dark blanket that had been put over them, save for the many twinkling stars in the sky.

"Let challenge number two," he said to himself before pausing only briefly. "Begin."

* * *

 **And the adventure begins! Please R &R! I love seeing who people suspect, so if you could, a simple list saying the order of players that you suspect of being the mole would be great! I shall try my hardest to update as quickly as I can, which will probably never be very fast at all. But please, leave a review of who you suspect, and stay tuned for the second challenge! ****To be continued...**

 **EDIT: There is also now a poll on my profile that asks you who you think the mole is. You are allowed up to three choices since it is still so early in the game. Thanks.**


	2. Burning Through Time

**An update?! An update that didn't take me two years to make?! I'm proud of myself. Also, the second challenge awaits the players, as well as the game's very first exemption. Who will receive it, if anyone at all?**

 **Note: If you do not know what an exemption is, it will be explained later in the chapter.**

 **Anyways, with that out of the way, let chapter two, commence.**

* * *

The players were aroused by their alarm clocks, which had all been set to 8:00 AM. Most of the players managed to get up, all of them suddenly running outside once they were out of their rooms. The ones who did not get up right away, mostly got up after about ten minutes. The only one who didn't get up until about fifteen minutes after their alarm clock was a very unsurprising individual to be late.

* * *

Crump – 8:15

Crump was having great difficulty getting up, as he was far more used to getting a good ten to twelve hours of sleep everyday. After about five more long and comfortable minutes though, he finally got up and changed into some new clothes that were on a chair beside his bed.

"Huh, I don't remember putting some clothes out last night," he said sleepily to himself. He then whipped his head around to look back at the chair. "I also don't remember putting a chair right beside my bed," he said once more to himself, feeling slightly spooked.

However, when he saw a peculiar note taped to the wall and read it, he was astonished. It said this,

 _All players must arrive outside by 8:30 for challenge #2. Your personal and prized possessions are at stake, so I would get out here as fast as I possibly could. Good luck,_

 _Monty_

Crump then looked around and realized something. His bag was missing. He then hurriedly headed out the door and sprinted at a surprising speed for his bulky stature, and headed over towards where the rest of the group was at. The other players seemed relieved to see him; a clock behind a row of bags showed a time of 8:27.

"You're not the best on time, are you Crump?" asked Monty.

Crump simply grunted in reply and began to look around, when he noticed that all the bags had everyone's name on one of them. Their possessions apparently really were at stake. What he caught as odd however, was the fact that there were not just twelve bags, but rather fourteen bags. One of them had a coin symbol on it, while the other odd ball bag was the classic mole bag that was strikingly similar to the players' bags, but had a difference of having no one's name on it, just the mole logo on the front of it.

"Welcome players, to your second challenge. You will have fifteen minutes, once again, to retrieve all of your bags and put them back over here. After the fifteen minute deadline, the remaining bags, if there are any that is, will be burned to a crisp from some Podoboo orbs that have a time limit of sixteen and a half minutes left remaining as of now. For every bag that is retrieved successfully, 2,000 coins will be added to the team pot. This could add up to a possible total of 24,000 coins. However, no one is allowed to simply grab a bag from the stash over there until one person can answer a question that could be related to the game, riddles, or just trivia in general, correctly. Three people will be answering these three different types of questions and will rotate between each individual question. Once someone answers a question correctly, a runner may go and grab _one_ bag, except for the regular bag. The people answering the questions also can't answer any of my questions until the runner has returned and made it past this line," he explained as he pointed towards a long red line just in front of where all of the players were. "If someone answers a question before one of the runners gets past the red line, 2,000 coins will be deducted. If someone grabs two or more bags on their way back, none of the bags will earn any money for the team pot. Now, who will be the ones to answer the questions?" asked Monty.

"I think that I could take on the riddles," answered the rocket scientist, E. Gadd

"Very well then. Anyone else?" responded Monty.

A long silence ensued as no one took on the role of being a trivia person.

"I do hope you all realize that time is running out for all of your possessions," he reminded.

"I can do the general trivia," said Starlow.

"Game trivia," said Fawful and Beldam simultaneously.

"After you," Fawful said while bowing his head.

Beldam then gracefully accepted the invitation and became the third person to be answering questions for the game.

"The rest of you will only be retrieving bags," announced the host. "The order you will be going in shall be the following; Crump, you'll be going first, followed by Waluigi, then Koopie, Dixie, Hammer Bro, Dazzle, Fawful, and Toad. If everyone can finish, the people answering the questions will go to get their bags. E. Gadd, since you volunteered first, you will get to go first, with your question being answered by Beldam. Starlow will then go next with her question being answered by Beldam, and then Beldam will be the final player to go with her question being answered by Elvin. Does everyone understand the rules?"

In reply, the players merely nodded their heads.

"So, without further ado, let the challenge begin...NOW!" announced Monty as pulled out a card with the first question written on it.

The players were startled by the abrupt beginning of their game once more as their minds struggled to keep up. "Beldam, you must try to answer this first question correctly for Crump. Beldam, who was the seventh person to arrive at the beginning location?"

She thought long and hard about the question, but she had never really payed any attention to the order in which everyone had arrived at the beginning of the game. It didn't help that she had been the last person to arrive, which hurt her significantly when attempting to answer the question.

"Was it...Toad?" she answered with great uncertainty.

"That is incorrect. You have two more guesses before Crump can no longer go to retrieve his bag."

"Was it E. Gadd?" she guessed yet again.

"That is...correct! You may go," announced Monty as he signaled Crump to go and retrieve his bag, or at least, one of them.

Crump however, could have been seen running off towards the bags as soon as the word "correct" had come out of Monty's mouth. He ran as fast as his rather stubby legs could carry him, which was still quite fast. After a few moments, he finally managed to reach the large assortment of bags, each one of them getting closer and closer to meeting its very own demise. He looked over at his bag, shrugged and then headed over to the coin bag. He didn't have anything valuable in his bag aside from a little souvenir he had decided to bring along. Looking closely at the coin bag, he realized that a note had been put on the front of the bag. It said,

 _Player, this is the coin bag, which, if you bring it back successfully, will add 6,000 coins to the team pot plus an extra 2,000 coins for still bringing a bag back. Alternatively, you may head on over to the regular bag and put this bag right next to it for the opportunity to get an exemption. Head over there for more information._

 _Monty_

Looking over at the regular bag, Crump quickly headed over to the bag and read the second note that was also taped onto the bag.

 _Player, this is the regular bag, which is also known as the exemption bag. Rather than taking one of your bags, you may instead write your name down on a slip of paper and put it into this bag for a chance to win an exemption. An exemption, if you do not know, is something that will prevent you from being executed this episode. You will automatically be safe and will move on to the next episode. The winner of the exemption will be decided by a random drawing. By choosing to do this however, you will either have to sacrifice 2,000 coins not being added into the team pot, or you will have to sacrifice your bag. If you would like to, you may also place the coin bag right by this bag to give yourself two chances to win the exemption. Choose wisely,_

 _Monty_

Looking at the regular bag and the coin bag, Crump quickly headed back over to the coin bag, and rather than bringing it back over, he decided to run back to the others with it.

Crump: I'm here for the money, but some assurance on me being safe this round would be nice. Then again, it's only a chance. Huh...

Meanwhile, Monty was asking E. Gadd his first question.

"What stays in place when it goes off?"

E. Gadd pondered the riddle as Crump started heading back towards the group. When he finally came back, he was wheezing from all the running he had done.

"An alarm clock," answered E. Gadd

"That is correct, you may go," said Monty as he gestured for Waluigi to go.

Meanwhile, Crump was just starting to put the large bag of coins on the ground by the others, trying to catch his breath as best he could, when he was assaulted with comments about what he just did.

"What's in there?"

"You didn't get your own bag?"

"There's money in there, Einstein."

"Yeah, but how much?"

"How am I supposed to know?"

"It was a rhetorical question!" were the things said when Crump laid the coin bag on the ground.

"Since I brought this...instead of my own bag...we get an extra 6,000 coins on top of... the original **COUGH** 2,000 coins," wheezed Crump.

The players congratulated him, honoring his sacrifice.

Dixie: It's odd, I thought that Crump would go for his own bag for sure. Maybe I was wrong about him... or maybe not. I don't know, it just seems like he would be the type of person who would fight for himself rather than others. Or maybe that's part of his strategy...

While they were discussing Crump's success, Waluigi was heading over to his own bag, his long legs carrying him a great distance with each stride that he made.

"Yeah, it might not be all that great if you end up getting all burnt up," Waluigi told his bag while picking it up.

But out of pure curiosity, Waluigi soon began to head over towards the regular bag.

"Hmm..." he said as read the note. Greed was in the air.

Back at the main part of the challenge where everyone else was, Monty was just starting to ask Starlow her first question when, out of the corner of her eye, saw Waluigi dropping something into the regular bag before sprinting back towards the others.

Starlow: I've seen both Crump and Waluigi go over to that one bag, and they both took their sweet time over there too. I just know it's nothing good, that's all.

"Starlow, how many main islands that make up Isle Delfino are there?" asked Monty, bringing Starlow back into reality.

Starlow, who was slowly coming back from the depths of her mind, pondered it for a few seconds as Waluigi got back before answering,

"8."

"That is correct," he announced as he motioned for Koopie to go.

The players watched Koopie run off into the distance, who didn't even bother go to check the oddball bag as she grabbed her own bag and headed back just as quickly.

Koopie: I wasn't even going to bother check that bag that the other two had decided to check. Time was running out quickly, so I just left and came back as fast as possible.

While Koopie had been running towards her bag, Monty asked Beldam her second question.

"Please don't answer it yet, but your question is, what room is Crump currently staying in right now?"

Beldam, who knew the answer to that one, waited until Koopie just passed the red line before responding,

"Room 101."

"That is correct," said the host once more, who didn't even bother signaling Dixie to go as she sprinted off, doing the exact same thing as what Koopie had done.

"E. Gadd, how can X be larger than XL?" questioned the host.

E. Gadd watched Dixie run down to her bag as he waited patiently, the answer already in his head.

"Roman numerals," he answered as Dixie passed the red line.

"That is correct," he said as Hammer Bro left the others in a cloud of dust as he charged down the path leading to the bags.

When Hammer Bro arrived at the regular bag, which was what he was curious about he began to read the lengthy note. When he was done, he looked up to the sky, contemplating what he was going to do.

Hammer Bro: I wasn't too certain what to do at the time. Being safe automatically seemed nice, but even then I knew I would only have a chance at winning some immunity. But on the other hand, I hardly packed anything valuable in my bag soooo...

Hammer Bro quickly wrote his name down on a slip of paper as threw the slip of paper into the bag, but could have been seen running right back towards the group with absolutely nothing in his hands.

Beldam: Now this is interesting. All three of the gentlemen who've gone down there to see the plain bag have all done different things. Crump earned us a lot of money, Waluigi didn't give us anything but still came back with his bag, and now Hammer Bro is coming back with nothing... very odd...very odd.

Back where all the players were, Monty was just asking Starlow her second question as Hammer Bro had put his slip of paper into the bag.

"Starlow, how much does a Mr. Softener cost around here?"

Starlow pondered the question for a long time as Hammer Bro finally got back before finally answering,

"5 coins," she said with confidence.

"That is incorrect, please try again," responded Monty.

Thinking about it some more, Starlow soon became utterly clueless as to what the answer was.

"10 coins," she answered with great uncertainty.

"That is incorrect. You only have one more guess or else Dazzle will be skipped," warned Monty.

Shaking her head, she looked at Dazzle with a look of apology before guessing,

"7 coins."

"That is...incorrect. Dazzle, unfortunately for you, your turn will be skipped," announced Monty.

"Sorry..." was the only word that Starlow could utter.

Dazzle went back to her original spot, which was alone and away from the others without a word.

Dazzle: ...

"Beldam, on what day was Koopie born?" continued Monty.

Beldam hadn't the slightest clue as to when Koopie had been born, so she merely started guessing right away, hoping that blind luck could save them.

"September 4th," she guessed randomly.

"That is incorrect. Two more guesses or Fawful will be skipped," replied Monty.

"July 26th," Beldam guessed again.

"That is...correct," answered their host as he signaled Fawful to go retrieve his bag, the others all astonished that she had managed to get the question correct.

Pauline: How did she manage to do that? I'm surprised she actually managed to guess that on her second try. Or maybe it wasn't just some sort of ridiculous luck...maybe.

"E. Gadd, this is your next question," continued the literal mole. "Listen very closely to this one. I am the beginning of the end, the end of every place. I am the beginning of eternity, the end of time and space."

The players stood there, all of them dumbfounded by E. Gadd's next question. The grin on E. Gadd's face did not disappear however, as he remained completely calm and aware of the answer. The answer was nowhere near "illogical to him".

The players awaited E. Gadd's answer as Fawful worked to get over to the bags. Although no one but the mole saw it, Fawful could have been seen looking very quickly at the exemption bag, back at the group, and then back to his own bag as he finally decided to just take his own bag. When Fawful got back, E. Gadd immediately answered,

"The letter "e"."

"That is correct. You may go," Monty told Pauline.

Pauline then scurried off, hoping that she could beat the clock. Pauline went straight for her own bag, took a quick look at the exemption bag, and then headed back as she hoped that even just glancing at the exemption bag hadn't cost them any money.

Back at the main group however, Monty was asking Starlow her next question.

"Starlow, what is Mario's last name?" questioned the host as the other players began to worry about their time limit.

Starlow bit her lip as she tried to remember Mario's last name, though he had never told her in their adventures together.

"Was it... Jumpman?" Starlow guessed.

"That is incorrect. Please try again," answered Monty.

"Ummm...Meatball?" Starlow guessed jokingly..

"That is...incorrect. You have one more try or else Toad will be skipped," answered their host.

Starlow looked at Toad, who was on his knees, begging Starlow to get the question right. Determined and scared, Starlow suddenly answered with great confidence as she suddenly remembered his last name.

"Mario."

"That is...correct. You may go," answered Monty as Toad sprinted at the fastest rate yet of anyone's speed as he barreled down the path.

Monty looked down at his watch, wincing ever so slightly at the time left remaining.

"There is a total of 37 seconds left remaining. If Toad doesn't get back here before that time runs out, no more money will be awarded, even if he has successfully saved a bag. Also, although it is extremely doubtful that there is any time for any more bags to be saved, Beldam, you shall be answering a question to have E. Gadd go and get his bag," warned Monty.

The players looked nervously at Toad as he made his way down the path.

When Toad reached the remaining pile of bags, he quickly spotted his own before grabbing it with lightning speed. He just started heading back when looked at the exemption bag. Skimming through the note, he quickly scribbled his name on a slip of paper before he dropped it into the bag and headed back, even faster than before.

"5...4...3...2...1...0," finished Monty as a loud earsplitting horn honked especially loudly, making a lot of the players cover their ears. Toad passed the red line just as the horn went off, meaning that he had just barely missed getting there in time.

"Players, I'm afraid that your time is up," announced the host.

"Did...I make it?" asked Toad in between breaths

"No Toad, you did not. You were just a few milliseconds off, but you still did not manage to make it," answered one of the producers.

"Oh come on," Toad whispered to himself in defeat.

"I might also announce that all of the remaining bags will be burned," announced Monty, the players who did not retrieve their bags looking down at the ground. "However, there is still a chance for some of you," continued Monty, all of the players curious as to what the opportunity was.

"The players who either answered the questions or were skipped all have a shot at retrieving their bag before time truly runs out, or have a chance to get an exemption like all of the others did," announced Monty.

The players looked at him curiously, some eager for what he had to say, and others worried for what he might say.

"What you can do is either sacrifice 2,000 coins from the team pot, or you may choose to sacrifice someone else's bag. In turn, you may have your bag rescued or the opportunity to earn an exemption. You may also sacrifice someone's or your own bag to add another 2,000 coins into the team pot. You can also choose to both sacrifice someone else's bag, as well as sacrifice 2,000 coins from the team pot however, if you want both of the possible rewards," continued Monty, the smile on his face now looking a little bit more sinister looking than it had before. "So, since E. Gadd, Starlow, and Beldam choose to answer the questions, they may choose to decide when to answer whenever they like. Additionally, Dazzle and Toad may also both have these same choices as well, except you two cannot choose to both save your bag and try to get the exemption. You may only choose one, as that's what you were both supposed to receive," he explained.

The players who had not been called were now nervously looking at their bags, wondering if they had made the right decision, and if their seemingly safe bag was actually at a high risk of being taken away from them. Betrayal and greed were already in the air in the game of the mole, and it didn't look so good to anyone but the ones that had been called.

"We have all decided that we'll go after those two go," announced Beldam.

"Very well then. Dazzle, since you were supposed to go before Toad, you shall go first," instructed Monty.

"I'll sacrifice 2,000 coins and choose to go for the...exemption," finally answered Dazzle.

"Very well then. Toad?" asked Monty.

"I'll...I'll...I'll go for the exemption and sacrifice...Dixie's bag!" blurted out Toad, instantly sorry for Dixie.

Dixie's face suddenly became a lot more sullen in mere seconds as she said her goodbyes to her belongings.

"All right then. Now, Beldam, since you volunteered last, you will go next," announced Monty.

"I'll choose to do nothing Monty," Beldam politely responded.

"An honorable decision. Starlow, what would you like to do?" continued Monty.

"I think that I'll just sacrifice 2,000 coins...and rescue my own bag," responded Starlow.

"A wise choice. And finally we have professor E. Gadd What would you like to do?" announced Monty.

"I believe that I shall sacrifice my own bag and give the team pot 2,000 more coins," answered E. Gadd

"A truly wise decision professor, a truly wise decision," complimented Monty. "Now, let the burning commence," he said as he snapped his fingers.

In mere moments, all of the bags left in the field were burning, the owners of them feeling a bit depressed, except E. Gadd, who was still smiling a toothy grin. The players stepped back as one of the producers took Dixie's and Toad's bags and threw them into the cluster of the other bags that had been failed to been retrieved as they too, began to burn with the others. Within a couple of seconds, all that remained was the ashes of the bags, smoke still rising into the open air. Silence followed, the air still and quiet.

"Well players, let us head back inside to discuss your winnings for this challenge!" announced Monty.

The players then started filing back into the hotel, some of them with a look of defeat on their faces. That all changed however, when the players saw, in the very lobby of the hotel, all of their bags in neat rows, every one of them with one of the players' names on them. A look of astonishment, confusion, and happiness was on every one of the players faces as they all tried to wrap their heads around just what was happening at the moment.

"Well players, these are your _real_ bags that have been displayed for all of you here," announced Monty once more.

"But...but...what about the bags that were outside then? Were they complete duplicates?" asked a rather puzzled Waluigi.

"They were fake. And no, they weren't duplicates. All it was was a bunch of toilet paper rolls that approximately equaled the weight of all your individual bags. That was it," Monty explained to him.

The players, who were still dazed by the surprise, were now mixed in terms of their reactions. The ones who had supposedly lost their bags were now filled with joy, while others who had retrieved their fake bags were now slightly disappointed from the money that had been sacrificed to retrieve them.

Starlow: It was nice to see all of the bags for everyone be back, but what about all of the money that was put into rescuing all of those bags? The mole definitely could have taken advantage of that challenge. Definitely...

"So, we must discuss your earnings from this challenge," announced Monty as all of the players began to fall silent. "For earnings of successfully retrieved bags, you guys earned a total of 8,000 coins. Then there is the other earnings earned by not retrieving your bags, which brings that total up to 12,000 coins. There is also the deductions however, which brings the team pot back down to 8,000 coins. However, because Crump decided to retrieve the coin bag, 6,000 coins will be added to the team pot, plus 2,000 coins for bringing a bag back, which doubles the coins that were earned during this challenge. So with all of the calculations out of the way, 16,000 coins have been added to the team pot out of a possible 30,000 coins, bringing the team pot up to 44,000 coins. So all in all, well done," complimented Monty as the players cheered once more.

 **Amount Added** **:** _16,000/30,000 coins_

 **Team Pot** **:** _44,000/60,000 coins_

"As I'm sure that almost all of you know," continued the host. "the regular bag gave anyone an opportunity to earn an exemption if they either left their bag behind and still earned 2,000 coins, or if they took their bag and sacrificed the 2,000 coins. The drawing will be held tonight at dinner, with the winner, of course, gaining an exemption, which will make so that you cannot be executed during the course of this episode. In other words, you will automatically move on to the next round unharmed. Aside from that, you may all go out and explore the peaceful village of Petalburg, which is also Koopie's hometown. Be back by 5:30 however, or else deductions will be made," advised Monty as he left to let the players enjoy the peaceful village to the fullest. The mole smiled as the other players began to leave the hotel to enjoy themselves. The challenge had gone all according to their plan.

* * *

\- Back at the Hotel, 5:30 -

"Welcome back, players," greeted their host as the players began filing into the hotel just as the clock was beginning to strike 5:30. "In case if any of you have forgotten, it's dinner time!" announced Monty.

"I'm pretty sure that we all managed to figure that out," grunted Waluigi.

"Yes, but while we have dinner, we must determine just who exactly is going to be taking the exemption that was offered during the challenge," continued Monty.

The players' eyes widened as they soon came to realize that one of them was about to be called safe automatically, which would make it just a little bit harder for all of the others to make it to the next episode.

"So," said the host as he pulled their attention to a computer he had right next to him. "I will begin by typing everyone's name into this computer. If your name appears at the bottom of this randomized list, you will be disqualified from having a chance at getting the exemption. Any questions?" asked the man in the blue top hat.

There was no reply, silence filling the air.

"Very well then. Let us get started," he announced.

The players watched as some of their names were slowly entered into the computer. The people whose names were up on the screen were twiddling their fingers and thumbs, hoping for the best. The ones who did not have their name up on the board only looked at the screen with a look of despair, as they only hoped that maybe the mole was on the list so that their odds of making it to the next episode didn't decrease. The players looked at the screen before Monty pressed the "enter" key.

Hammer Bro

Dazzle

Toad

Waluigi

The ones who had their names on the screen only hoped that they wouldn't be disqualified from the opportunity to earn an exemption. The players then looked up as they saw the updated list.

Waluigi

Dazzle

Hammer Bro

Toad

Toad sighed as Monty deleted Toad's name from the list and pressed the "enter" key once more, himself knowing that his efforts had been useless.

Dazzle

Hammer Bro

Waluigi

"Dang it!" yelled Waluigi as he snapped fingers in defeat.

Hammer Bro and Dazzle then exchanged looks as Monty deleted Waluigi's name and pressed the "enter" key once more.

Hammer Bro

Dazzle

Dazzle remained motionless as Hammer Bro jumped up in victory.

"Oh yeah! I'm completely invincible!" bragged Hammer Bro.

"For this episode," Monty reminded him.

"Right, right," replied Hammer Bro, still not really seeming as if he cared for what might come in the near future.

The others looked at the green card that Monty was currently handing Hammer Bro in jealousy. Hammer Bro, who had caught all of their looks, chased them all away, his hands tightening around the exemption ever so slightly, barely enough to notice. The card was a dark shade of green, with the word _exemption_ written on it.

"Now, you are all free to do whatever you like. But first," he said as he clapped his hands twice. "Let us have dinner."

* * *

\- Later That Evening, Room 100: Pauline and Starlow

The two of them were talking, discussing the issue of their roommate, Dazzle, who had said that she had some business to take care of.

"Do you even trust Dazzle?" Starlow asked Pauline.

Pauline sighed, thinking carefully of how to respond to that question.

"Not really. I feel as if she's hiding something. I'm not too sure if she's the mole or not, but she certainly is suspicious," answered Pauline.

"Same," responded Starlow

Silence then took over the duo as they mulled over the thought of just what Dazzle was trying to pull off.

Mere seconds passed before a **click** was heard as the door opened and Dazzle walked in.

"Hey Dazzle," greeted Starlow.

Dazzle merely nodded her head in response as she sat on her bed, got her journal out, and began to write. Starlow and Pauline exchanged looks before switching over to a far more innocent conversation.

Starlow: I'm not too certain that I trust anyone but Pauline in this game. And even then, Pauline could still very well be the mole. Everyone is just so suspicious...I just need a little bit more time.

Pauline: Dazzle is getting more and more suspicious every day for me. The more I think about it, the more perfect it seems like it could be. There are others though...several others who seem just as suitable to be the mole as Dazzle is. I think I'm getting somewhere, but I'm not too certain if Starlow is even buying my ideas anymore.

* * *

Room 101: Fawful and Crump

Fawful and Crump were writing in their journals as they awaited Hammer Bro's return, who had left in a similar fashion to how Dazzle had left, except apparently Waluigi needed to talk to him. After several minutes of complete silence, Fawful eventually broke the wave of silence that had fallen between him and Crump by saying,

"Perhaps an alliance would be helpful to both of us. I shall agree to your offer," agreed Fawful, finally giving Crump his answer to the question he had asked quite a while back.

Crump, although you couldn't see it from all of the clothes that he was wearing, smiled and grinned widely as they shook on it.

"So, what's the game plan?" Crump asked Fawful curiously.

"We must get on the good side of others. You did a great job of doing that since you gave the team 8,000 more coins rather than falling to the clutches of greed. I'll just keep on doing minor things so that they trust us to do well in missions. We'll probably need more allies, but for now, lets just stick with trying to be as good as possible. As for suspects-" explained Fawful before Hammer Bro opened the door and cut him off.

The duo merely glared at Hammer Bro as he put his hands up as if to surrender before jumping on top of his bed as he relaxed and started to drift asleep.

Crump: Finally, Fawful finally accepted my coalition offer! Things are bound to go smoothly now. Buh huh huh huh huh!

Fawful: With Crump at my side, we will both surely make it at least halfway into the game unharmed. Now all I need is another individual to join us...and I know just who it could be.

* * *

Room 102: Dixie, Koopie, and Beldam

The trio were silently writing in their journals, all of them focused entirely upon the information that they had all stumbled over that very day. No words were spoken except for the sounds of the pencils and pens that were scribbling things into their journals.

Koopie: I'm not too keen on who I think the mole is. But I'm pretty sure that whoever they are, they probably did something in the last two challenges that they recently endured. I'm betting that it was subtle, so that no one would suspect them, but so that they could also do a little bit of damage to the team pot. I'm still not too sure if that's correct or not though. I'm still really confused...

Dixie: I'm not all that certain if the mole is super subtle or super obvious. Both would work great, as someone who is obvious could be easily overlooked and not really suspected if they were to mess up. On the other hand, someone who is subtle could be perfect for going unnoticed, and could potentially put the blame on someone else. Or maybe their in between. Or maybe they're never going to really sabotage. I have no clue already...

* * *

Room 103: E. Gadd and Toad

"Any clue to who the mole might be now?" asked Toad.

"Not too certain. I have my suspicions though," replied the old man.

"Well who are they?" questioned Toad.

"I won't be saying their names. It would probably be best if we both made our own lists of suspects and then shared them at the end of the episode. This way, we won't be confusing each other," explained E. Gadd

Toad sighed heavily before finally returning to his journal, his patience for E. Gadd starting to run out.

E. Gadd: I believe that if we could just make our own lists, we could come up with a combined list of suspects to then vote for on the quiz. I think Toad is getting a tad bit impatient with me though, as he seems to be getting more and more aggravated. I only hope he bears with me during this stretch between the next challenge and the upcoming execution.

Toad: I'm not too sure if E. Gadd is even on my side anymore. He seems like he's pulling away from me almost; he's giving me less and less information. In fact, he's not even giving me any information at all anymore. He says he'll give me plenty of information at the end of the episode, but I'm not even too certain that he's going to even do that anymore. Oh brother...

* * *

Room 105: Waluigi

While drama was unfolding in all of the other rooms, Waluigi was dancing around in his room, doing absolutely nothing but having fun.

"See ya!" Waluigi said to Hammer Bro, who was just walking off.

"See ya," was the reply that he got.

Waluigi then jumped on top of his bed and scribbled something in his journal before jumping back up and announcing quite loudly,

"The mole has already been caught by the great Waluigi! Wah hah hah!"

"So, do you think you know who the mole is?" asked one of the producers behind the camera.

"Oh, it's you guys. Wait, how did you guys..." said Waluigi as he checked to see if there was any unlocked entrance in his room. There were none except his door. "Whatever," continued Waluigi, giving up already on how they had even gotten in.

"So do you think you know who the mole is?" repeated the unseen producer.

"Of course I do! Waluigi always knows! Wah hah hah hah hah!" boasted the "great" Waluigi.

"Are you sure?" questioned the producer.

"Of course I am! Now get out of my room for doubting the great Waluigi!" ordered Waluigi.

"Sir we can't-" began the producer.

"Sorry, have a nice day," said Waluigi as he pushed the camera man and the producer out of his room.

"We're supposed to film what you do," protested the producer.

"Sorry. You guys can come back at about half past never," Waluigi told them as he slammed the door shut in their faces with a frightening force and speed.

Outside of Waluigi's room the producer and the camera man sighed, both of them failing once again to get any good footage of Waluigi doing anything relatively normal.

"Changing the subject," began the camera man. "The mole is doing pretty good."

"Yeah, they are. I just hope that they do their job well tomorrow" replied the producer.

"Heh. Yeah, that'll be interesting," agreed the camera man as they headed off towards the host of the game, Monty.

The third challenge was drawing close, and the first execution was drawing ever closer as well. Someone would not live to see the second episode.

* * *

 **And the second episode comes to a close! With Hammer Bro already exempt, the other players odds of being executed rises! But there is still one more challenge awaiting the players, as well as yet another exemption. Please review and check out my profile for the poll about who you think the mole is! And remember, the mole is always watching...**


	3. The Keys To Success

**Yayyyyyyyy, I got the next chapter up! *confetti everywhere* Sorry about the delay, but once again, it probably is going to stay like this and only get worse from here. But nonetheless, I am here (somehow), and in this chapter the players must face their final main challenge for this episode. Will they be successful? Find out by continuing onward (maybe).**

* * *

"Do you guys think we'll have our next challenge today or tomorrow?" Koopie asked the others in the lobby of the hotel, the sun just barely starting to make it over the long horizon in the distance.

"I'm not all that certain. Monty will probably try to surprise us with it though, whenever it actually just so happens to be," answered Dixie, who had been awoken by Koopie waking up.

"Just like he did with the other two challenges," Koopie said to no one in particular, the early bird that she was being the reason why she was up so early.

"Yeah," laughed Toad, who had always made himself wake up at 6:00 in the morning, but could no longer alter the time due to almost always doing it.

"I'd reckon that our host would set the challenge up for today, and then have the execution at the last second on the last day for the extra effect," reasoned E. Gadd, who was always early to bed and early to rise.

"What makes you think that?" questioned Dixie.

"It would be much more logical and suitable for this game show to give us the challenge today and then give us a lot of time to ponder who the mole could be and to let our anxiety drain out all of the other emotions for the execution," E. Gadd explained to the suspicious monkey.

"I guess that would make sense," replied Koopie.

"What are you guys gossiping about?" came a voice from the hallway leading to all of the rooms.

"We're not gossiping, we're just trying to decipher when our next challenge could be," Koopie told the large, bulky figure.

"Oh. Well then when are we going to have this challenge?" asked Crump.

"Most likely today," answered E. Gadd

"And how do you know that?" interrogated Crump.

The others all sighed, the same explanation E. Gadd gave Dixie being told once again but to Crump instead.

"Hmm..." responded Crump when E. Gadd had finished. "I mean, I guess that's possible...maybe."

Then the players sat there, all of them content just sitting there, watching the sun slowly rise into the sky. After a time, a koopa burst into the hotel, stopping abruptly right before them, panting.

"Sorry guys. You can **WHEEZE** have breakfast if you want to," panted the koopa.

The players all nodded their heads, the five of them all heading off towards the breakfast area, the koopa rushing back outside almost instantly.

* * *

\- Inside the Hotel, 9:00 AM -

By this time, almost everyone was up (with Waluigi being the only one who was still sleeping) and they had all had breakfast when Monty came in the door.

"Players, sorry I am a bit late, but you may all go about yourselves today, as we won't be doing much today. I only ask that you all be back here by about 12:00 for lunch. With that out of the way, please enjoy yourselves," Monty announced to the players before heading back outside and into the fresh and calming air.

"Well…I'm out. See ya," Hammer Bro told the others as he followed Monty out the door.

"I think that I'm going to leave as well," agreed Dixie.

"Same here."

"Later."

"I'm gonna go for a little bit," were the numerous replies as everyone began to head out the doors. It wasn't too long before everyone but Crump, Fawful, and Beldam remained.

"Crump, let's go back to our room," instructed a whispering Fawful.

"Sure," Crump whispered back.

Beldam eyed them suspiciously as the duo headed back to to their room, both of them slightly quickening their pace as they got to their room.

Beldam: Those two are up to something. Those two keep on talking to each other now. They have got to be working together. I have to do something about this…

* * *

\- Back At the Hotel, Noon -

The clock on one of the walls in the lobby tolled as the clock struck 12:00 and Hammer Bro walked in.

"Am I late?" he asked everyone.

"Actually, you're right on time," was Monty's answer. "Now, let us have some lunch," he continued as he clapped his hands twice.

Some waiters then came up from behind the players and classically laid out all of the players' meals right before them. The group feasted on their food, all of them still awaiting a challenge to be popping up at any moment. When the last scraps of food had finally disappeared, Monty finally stood up and announced,

"Well players, I would like you all to follow me just briefly," announced the literal mole.

The players all exchanged looks as they cautiously got up from their seats and began to follow Monty out the door. They walked across the town of Petalburg, all of them expecting to stop soon, but Monty trudged onward. The same rocks that they had seen after they had completed their first challenge soon began to come into view as the players wondered what their next challenge could possibly be. Just when they reached the rocks and when some players began to question what Monty's definition of "just briefly" meant to him, Monty announced,

"Players, welcome, to your third and final challenge for this episode," he announced.

The players all nodded their heads, the anticipated coming to reality.

"Please follow me for just a little while longer as we head to our next challenge location," he told them.

Waluigi and a few others groaned loudly, fearing that they would be walking almost another mile when Monty went to the other side of one of the largest rocks and showed them a dark green pipe.

"Please go in one by one," he told them as Waluigi jumped into the pipe.

"Just get this over with," Dixie mumbled to herself as she followed Waluigi down the pipe.

Followed by her was Koopie, then Dazzle, Hammer Bro, Beldam, Fawful, Pauline, E. Gadd, Starlow, Toad, and lastly Crump as he too, jumped into the pipe.

"Now," Monty said to no one in particular. "Let the _real_ fun begin," he said before jumping into the pipe.

* * *

\- Hooktail Castle, 1:00 PM -

When the players got out at the other end, they were utterly confused by their surroundings. Nothing was there except for some items, skulls, and some other oddities laying on the ground. A dark, twisted looking castle was in the distance, the players all officially spooked, the mole included.

"We move on," Monty told them before trudging onward, the players now walking at a slightly slower pace.

The number of collected items and trinkets soon increased as the castle seemed to grow larger and larger. Before too long, the castle loomed over them all, its structure threatening to consume them all. Footsteps were then heard coming from behind them as some producers from the show gathered in a line behind the players, which made some of the players make an eerie note to themselves.

"Welcome players, to your third challenge," was his announcement as he spread his arms out wide.

The players looked up at the cloudy sky, the castle still towering far above them.

"In this challenge, you will all be put in different rooms in the dark and eerie Hooktail Castle, which is completely based on who went in the pipe at what time. You will have to complete different challenges in each room, with the completion of the separate mini-challenges earning you a key to proceed to the next room. If everyone can reach the very top of the castle within 30 minutes," he announced as he pointed at the peak of the castle. "40,000 coins will be added to the team pot. Does everyone understand?" he asked.

The players all nodded their heads, all of them nervous for the next challenge.

"Very well then."

Suddenly Monty snapped his fingers, the producers quickly putting blindfolds over all of the players.

"Wah?! Ay, what's going on here!" exclaimed Waluigi.

The others all had similar responses to the treatment that they were currently receiving, as the producers showed the players the way to their rooms, all of them alone in the very spacious rooms of the great castle. The third challenge had begun, and the mole was going to have some fun with it.

* * *

\- Crump – Entrance, F1 -

"Hold still man!" the producer told as Crump struggled to get the blindfold off. The voice was rough and deep, and it seemed to crackle as they finally managed to get the blindfold off of him.

Crump looked around, viewing his surroundings. He was in a large room with two separate floors, the second one that was above them being practically inaccessible. The walls had an arching formation that made for the opening and exit to the room. The walls were all made of stone, the stone being one of a dark shade of baize. Light poured in from the two openings, making it almost impossible to see what was outside. Turning around, he noticed just exactly who had brought him here. The great and almighty King Bowser was before him, both of them immediately glaring at one another.

"So," Crump started. "Are we gonna duke it out like this? Is this the challenge?"

"Oh no," chuckled Bowser. "We're just gonna play a little game," chuckled Bowser.

"A game of what? Losing? Because I know that you're the best at that," challenged Crump.

"Oh, you're too kind. I think we all know that you would definitely win at that game," countered the koopa.

Crump merely raised his eyebrows, getting frustrated by the koopa, even if Bowser couldn't see it.

"No, rather than that, we're gonna play a game of…chess! Which side do you want?" finished Bowser.

"Chess?" said Crump with disbelief.

"Too bad, you get the black side since you don't even get to pick!" Bowser said as he laughed.

One of Crump's eyes twitched as he tried to comprehend just exactly what he was hearing from the bulky figure.

"You gonna play or what?" Bowser asked him.

Crump, who was still slightly confused, sat down in front of the small table that he guessed would be where they would be playing chess.

"Are we actually going to do this?" said Crump, who was still trying to get over it.

"Yep," was Bowser's reply.

"All right then," responded Crump, almost chuckling at the lack of anything intense that he had been expecting upon seeing the koopa king.

Bowser then proceeded with preparing the game, the black pieces all having a red thumbprint at the base of them. The white pieces, on the other hand, were made so that every player had one of the pieces as their own, along with a few others pieces that resembled other oddities such as an exemption, a large bag of coins, Monty, and a final piece, with this one being the king, that resembled the thumbprint logo of the very game show that they were all in. Crump looked closely at all of the pieces, trying to memorize where all of the players' positions were on the board and attempted to find a clue within the chess board. He also took note of the fact that he was one of the rooks.

"So, you ready?" Bowser asked him.

"You bet," challenged Crump.

"Good. We still have to wait a few seconds though," Bowser told him.

Crump nodded his head, patiently waiting for when the game would begin.

"And remember, your part of the challenge only ends when the game is over. All right, I go first," announced Bowser as the challenge began.

* * *

\- Toad – Koopa Base, F1 -

Toad was breathing nervously and in short gasps as he made his way towards his key. The room was a large hallway with some lanterns high up on the walls, all of them perfectly spaced out. His key was hanging on a wall by the door on the opposite side of the room, a chain holding the key perfectly still. The only problem was that there were tons of koopas everywhere, all of them guarding the key. Thankfully for Toad, there were huge blocks of stone in the middle of these guards' sight, so Toad could manage to slip through going unnoticed.

"Oh boy," Toad whispered to himself as he tried to find the perfect moment for when to go for it.

Toad darted for it making great haste as he tried to get past the guard.

"Yes," he whispered to himself as he made it past the guard.

"Hey! Stop right there!" boomed a voice that was right in front of Toad. The next guard had simply spotted him and took him by the arms as he lead out of the labyrinth of blocks.

Toad sighed. It was going to take a while to get out of that room.

* * *

\- Starlow – Jail Room, F1 -

Starlow was completely petrified, her room being completely still and quiet. Nervously, she made her way towards her key, hoping that she could reach out and get it. Starlow's room was completely empty, save for some torches on the sides of the walls. There were three cells in the prison room, and her key was behind bars in the middle one. Nothing was in the room except for her, and the only sound that could've been heard was the crackling of the fire that the torches were responsible for.

"Argh!" yelped Starlow as she came to the realization that she couldn't reach the key by merely reaching out and grabbing it.

"How am I supposed to do this?" wondered Starlow.

After a few moments of failure of attempts to try to get the key, Starlow sighed and turned around before seeing an eerie sight. Her face drained of all color as their were now dry bones all around her, scattered all across the floor. They were just the remains of the many dry bones, but that scared her even more. Motionless, she didn't do anything except watch all of the dry bones very carefully, the dry bones seemingly staring back at her, hard.

* * *

\- E. Gadd – Puzzle Room, F1 -

E. Gadd looked around at his room, himself not recognizing nor registering anything that was of major importance. After several moments of silence however, something caught his eye. On top of a nearby platform with several platforms sticking out of the old brick wall leading up to it, there was a single telephone with a what seemed to be a note beside it. Taking note of the fact that it was about 10 feet off of the ground, he looked around, looking for a staircase of some sort, but to no avail. What he did find however, was a total of seven switches, with these switches each being unique to each other by means of the unique colors that each one possessed. The colors were in order of the electromagnetic spectrum, with red starting the row at the left and purple ending it at the right. Located next to the array of switches however, was a single note that had a list of clues on it. E. Gadd instantly recognized it as a puzzle where the switches had to be hit in a certain order, but with the answer only being given by following the clues listed. Reading the note, it said,

 _Dear player,_

 _For your room you must hit the switches in a certain order in order to reach the platform with your key. Here are your clues;_

 _#1: The yellow switch is hit before the red switch and after the orange switch._

 _#2: The green switch is hit after the blue switch._

 _#3: The blue switch is hit right in the exact middle of when the orange and green switches are hit._

 _#4: The green switch is the second switch to be hit after the red switch._

 _#5: The yellow switch is the second switch to be hit before the red switch._

 _#6: The violet switch is the second switch to be hit._

 _Please keep in mind that if the order is incorrect just once. you will not be able to try again for another five minutes. Also, in order for your part of the challenge to be totally complete, when you correctly identify the correct order, you must then hit all of the colors of the switches at once. Good luck,_

 _Monty_

E. Gadd merely smiled and grinned widely as he readjusted his glasses. It was time for a good ol' brain teaser.

* * *

\- Beldam – Switch Room, F1 -

Beldam was alone in her room, her room being merely a large square with stairs leading up to a nearby platform. She hadn't the faintest of ideas of what she was supposed to do though, as no one had given her any instructions and she didn't see her key anywhere. However, for one it seemed as if that she was in control over two separate rooms instead of just one. In one room there was a cell phone in her room with a sticky note beside it that told her the exact number that she was supposed to call, but the phone on the other end never answered the call. The other room, on the other hand, was actually another jail room, looking very similar to Starlow's room. It had a switch, however, that opened up a cell door that had a chest locked inside of it. The only problem was that the door closed back up way too fast for Beldam to make it in, and that's even without looking at how in the world she could get back out. It was odd and confusing, and Beldam didn't know what to do about it. But time was running out as Beldam struggled to come up with any ideas. Very little did she know that she was currently making a grave mistake.

* * *

\- Fawful – Hidden Room, F1 -

Fawful's room was quite simple, as were the others' rooms. His room was a forgotten room to the far right of the castle and had therefore been left untouched for many years. Fawful was stuck with a big black chest in his room that he couldn't open, but for a good reason; there was an odd lock on the chest that had a 5-digit number combination on it. He tried countless possibilities, but figured that guessing the combination would get him nowhere. After a few frustrating moments of failure to get the lock open, Fawful began to explore the rest of his room. Ignoring the chest, there were barrels and crates of random oddities, as well as many things written on the walls. But no matter how hard he tried, he simply could not find anything of major importance, the writings on the walls included. He was just beginning to give up after he dumped a crate's contents on the floor when a slip of paper slowly falling to the ground caught his eye

"Hm?" he asked himself quizzically as he tried to decipher the note. It read,

 _The first number of the second row minus the third digit in the first row is the second digit in the combination._

Fawful stood there at that very spot, mulling over what the clue could be possibly be talking about. He began to look around once more though, a little more slowly this time as he searched for any other clues that were most likely in his room.

* * *

\- Pauline – Secret Room, F1 -

Pauline had gotten yet another simple room, possibly making for the simplest one yet. To the right of Fawful's room was Pauline's room, an even more cleverly hidden component of the castle that very few actually knew about. Her room was the smallest yet, the room looking as if it could only store up to about forty people at max, and even then it would have to call for many uncomfortable and awkward positionings. The room itself was also looking as if it was struggling to support itself, seeing as how it had many large cracks in the walls. The door was locked, but on the opposite end of the room, there was a table that had a small piece of paper placed on it. Pauline hurrying over there, she soon realized that along with the note, there was a number sliding puzzle piece and a small slip of paper. Reading the small slip of paper, it read,

 _The fourth digit in the combination is the quotient of the second number in the fourth row and the second number of the first row._

Pauline, who was utterly confused as to what in the world it was talking about, decided to get to work on the fifteen puzzle placed right beside the note, figuring that the puzzle played a role in getting her out of her room. So Pauline immediately picked up the puzzle, noticing that a small sticky note had been placed on top of it that said,

 _Up to 60 moves before reset_

Realizing that it meant that she had to complete the puzzle in a mere 60 moves, Pauline got to work right away, wasting no time in getting to work on the puzzle. Thinking that the challenge wouldn't be so hard, she let the slip of paper slip away from her mind as she attempted to complete the puzzle. What a foolish move that was.

* * *

\- Hammer Bro – Hazard Room, F2 -

Hammer Bro was having great difficulty as he tried desperately to call Beldam, who was pacing right down below him on the floor below. Similar to Beldam, Hammer Bro had a sticky note right next to his phone, with the same note also saying that he couldn't directly speak with Beldam. He could only talk to her by using the phones. Along with the telephone number was a little note that said,

 _Switches = Middle, right, middle, left,_

He had tried signaling Beldam to do what he wanted her to do, which was to hit the switches that were on the platform right by her in that exact order, but she just would not bother to even so much as look up at her surroundings. He tried using the phone, multiple times at that, but there was never a response, just silence and occasionally what seemed to be movement in the background. He even tried leaving a message, but it never really seemed to work.

"Dang it, how am I supposed to do this?" he asked himself, clueless as to what to do. "Wait..." Hammer Bro told himself as he looked back over at the rest of the room.

Hammer Bro, who had made the foolish mistake of paying attention only to the section of his room with the telephone in it, looked at the rest of his room, himself now recognizing the sheer size that his room truly had. In front of him was now a long corridor traveling along the wall, with the door that he assumed he was supposed to unlock way at over at the end of it. Of course, two problems were very evident. For one, he didn't even have a key. For another, along the somewhat lengthy corridor were three large gaps in the flooring, each one serving as a hazard in his attempts to get to the other side.

"How am I…" he started, only to lose his train of thought and drifting off into the distance, wondering how in the world he was going to be able to make it there.

* * *

\- Dazzle – Enemy Room, F2 -

Dazzle's room was a room strikingly similar to Toad's room, as once again, guards roamed around the largest room in the entire castle. Stone blocks were once again placed everywhere, but the amount of guards had also increased. The guards searched everywhere for Dazzle though, not sticking to some repetitive pattern like they did in Toad's room. This ultimately forced Dazzle to take refuge in one of the largest crates that was (thankfully) empty.

"But where's the switch?" she whispered to herself quietly, trying her very hardest not to be heard by the roaming guards.

When she had first entered the room, the producer that had lead her there had told her that there was a switch that would "kill" all of the guards so that she could claim her key in the room. Unfortunately for Dazzle, she couldn't see a switch anywhere, meaning that she would be forced to scout out the area. Figuring that the switch would be in a very heavily guarded location, she headed out and into the rest of the room. One upside for Dazzle that Toad did not have in his room was that the room was nearly pitch black, meaning that sneaking past the guards would be much easier. The guards, however, still had lights on their helmets that they all had on, meaning that they could all still very easily catch her, despite the darkness that seeped into the room. Darting for it, Dazzle raced into the darkness, only hoping that maybe she could compete her part of the challenge in one try.

* * *

\- Koopie – Treasure Room, F3 -

Koopie was stuck in her room for about five minutes when Monty finally returned, the producer that had taken her to her room telling her that such a thing should be expected.

"Koopie, I hope that you have read the instructions that were on the sticky note that I left on the door," Monty told her.

Koopie nodded her head, as she had indeed read the sticky note, herself already beginning to hate the room she was in.

"Good. We must now proceed with the challenge, as it is timed. You must very well know that I'm going to be asking you some questions, some of them being rather...difficult to answer. Please remember that all of your answers will be revealed to the other players. You may skip one question, but that is all. Any other questions that you decide not to answer will either deduct three minutes from the ticking clock, or you may deduct 5,000 coins from the team pot. It is your choice of which one you would like to deduct from. Furthermore, if you do not skip any questions, you may choose to either add 5,000 coins to the team pot or add three minutes to the overall time limit. Any questions?" explained the host.

"No," was Koopie's nervous response.

"Very well then. First question, which person do you want to be the first to be executed and eliminated from the game?"

Koopie tightened her focus and thought carefully before writing down her answer on a piece of scratch paper that she had received.

"Second question, who do you want to win, other than yourself?"

Koopie took a minute or so before finally writing down her answer.

Koopie: I could already tell that the questions were just going to get harder and harder and harder from now on...

"Next question, who do you most want to form a coalition with?"

Koopie then laid back in her chair, straining over what to write down.

* * *

\- Dixie – Balance Room, F3 -

Dixie was trembling as she threw the note with the instructions to her part of the challenge on it to the ground, herself knowing that anyone else would've been better off doing the challenge than her. For her challenge, she had to walk across a very slim beam that was about forty feet off of the ground. She had a harness and expert supervision at her side, but it didn't help all that much with her great fear of heights. Despite her energetic personality, Dixie, (much to her own embarrassment) was indeed afraid of great heights.

"Okay, I've gotta do this," Dixie told herself shakingly as she got onto the beam.

For the beginning part, the beam was fairly thick and even had, although it was not the most supportive thing in the world, a railing on one side. But as the beam got farther and farther out, the makeshift railing disappeared, and the beam got thinner and thinner and thinner.

"All right Dixie, you can do this. You can do this. You can do _this_!" yelped Dixie as she almost fell off on her very first step.

Taking in a deep breath, she took another step and began her long journey across the beam.

* * *

\- Waluigi – Lookout, F4 -

Waluigi had his blindfold taken off just a few moments after he had arrived at his destination in the large castle.

"How do you like it?" came a voice from behind him.

Waluigi soon turned around, only to be greeted by Monty.

"Like what?" he asked quizzically.

"The view," he responded, spreading his arms out wide as he said it.

Waluigi, still slightly puzzled, looked around and noticed that he wasn't actually in the castle, but on the very top of it, earning himself a miraculous view of Petalburg and all of the great lands surrounding it. The sun beamed down at them as the beautiful day showed them of just what nature was capable of making. The only movement became the birds flying in the distance, Waluigi's face getting more and more relaxed by the second. It wasn't until a few minutes had passed when Monty finally told Waluigi of his part of the challenge.

"You are the lucky one of this challenge, Waluigi," Monty told him. "While the others are straining not to get caught by guards, trying to solve puzzles as fast as they possibly can, and facing great tests of courage and greed, you are the only one who does not actually have to do anything. You may rest and relax here for as long as you want. Just be sure to unlock the door so that the others can get in," Monty told him as he gave him a key to the door. "So please, enjoy yourself up here while you still can and-" Monty paused. "Never mind. Please enjoy yourself," the host told him as took one last look at the view before heading back into the main part of the castle.

Waluigi left his mouth in gaping awe at what Monty had told him and at the stupendous view that was laid out before him. He could finally relax in peace without any worries of the mole, or how the others were doing, and if he was even going to make it past the first execution. No, it all just evaporated from his mind, leaving him in a deep trance. He was free. Too bad that the others couldn't say the same.

* * *

\- Pauline and Fawful – Hidden Room and Secret Room, F1 -

While Pauline was struggling to solve the puzzle in under sixty moves, in the room right next to hers, Fawful had found two other clues to the combination, but could no longer find any other clues. Suddenly, an idea came to Fawful. What if the other clues were in the neighboring rooms? He quickly dashed to the room to the right while yelling,

"Who's in there!?"

Pauline jolted upright, surprised and shocked by the voice. Taking note of the fact that it had been Fawful's voice she replied,

"It's me, Pauline!"

"Do you have any slips of paper in your room?" Fawful asked her.

Pauline took another look around her room, but found nothing except for the sticky note that was still on the table.

"No, sorry," replied Pauline.

Fawful cursed on the other side of the door as he left without saying anything more.

Pauline then looked at the number puzzle before quickly starting to solve it, herself determined to do it this time. Lately she had been struggling to complete the second row, with always just one tile being out of place. Quickly trying to solve the puzzle, she ended up completing the first half of the second row, but then could not complete the second half, forcing her to eventually move the five and the six away from their original positions, completely undoing the progress she had just made. Sighing, she proceeded to attempt to complete the puzzle, her patience beginning to wear a little thin.

Pauline: Admittedly, it should not have been as hard as I made it be. I used to do these kinds of puzzles, but when I'm under pressure, losing patience, and still thinking about the game and who the mole is, it really isn't a good combination.

Meanwhile, Fawful was still trying to figure out his part of the challenge, his attempts so far all failures. Beldam hadn't given him any information and neither had Pauline. He began to search his whole room once more, only to find nothing once more. Time was beginning to run out.

* * *

\- Toad – Koopa Room, F1 -

"Yes!" Toad whispered to himself as he finally grabbed his key.

Quickly running over to the door right by it, he attempted to unlock it. To his great disbelief however, it did not open.

"Why won't it...open!" Toad said to himself maybe a little too loudly.

"Hey! Stop right there!" yelled one of the koopas as he tossed him back out of the maze of blocks and koopas.

"Oh come on," Toad muttered to himself.

He was just to head back into the maze for the eighth time to be exact, when it suddenly occurred to him that maybe his key unlocked the door _behind_ him rather than in front of him. Heading back over to the very first door of the castle aside from the entrance, Toad once again attempted to use the key to unlock the door. This time however, he was successful as the door creaked open.

* * *

\- Crump – Entrance, F1 -

"Your move," Bowser reminded Crump.

"I know that," Crump snapped at him.

The two were evenly matched at the game (which wasn't saying much), but Crump was currently losing the game. He had lost both of his rooks, several of the pawns, and just recently lost two knights, a bishop, and his queen. Bowser was doing only a little bit better however, and had lost almost all of his pawns, one rook, one knight, both of his bishops, and had almost lost his own queen as well.

"Crump?" came a voice from farther into the castle.

Crump looked up, only to be greeted by Toad's face running towards him.

"How did you get here?" Crump asked him.

"Well I got my key, but it turns out it was just supposed to unlock your door, not mine," explained Toad.

"I'm _waiting_ ," Bowser told him, an exasperated look on his face.

Crump sighed, before finally making a move that Bowser hadn't anticipated as he watched his other rook go down.

"Darn it!" yelled Bowser, slamming his fist down and shaking the whole table as he said it.

"Hey, watch it! You're gonna ruin the positioning of the pieces!" Crump barked at him.

Bowser responded to this by imitating what Crump had said, Crump resisting the desire to punch squarely in the face. He had had enough with the koopa.

"So you need to win in order to beat him?" Toad asked him, breaking the tension that Toad was barely aware of despite watching the duo go at it together. Taking in a sharp breath, Crump responded with a blunt,

"Yep."

"But he won't," Bowser added mockingly as he moved another one of his pieces.

"Really?" responded Crump as he slammed down a piece on top of Bowser's last knight.

"Are you kidd-" started Bowser before eventually shaking his head and continuing on with the game, plotting his revenge against Crump to avenge the two very foolish moves that he had made.

* * *

\- Starlow – Prison Room, F1 -

Starlow eyed the dry bones wearily, hoping that none of them would dare move. Motionless, Starlow began to calm herself as she knew that the game was merely trying to get under her skin. Looking at all of the dry bones carefully, she soon realized that some of the dry bones were a different color from the rest. The majority of them had a dull shade of gray to them, but a few had more colorful colors to them then the rest. One was a dark blue, another green, one red, a pitifully dark black, and a plain and simple white.

"Okay, you can do this," Starlow told herself.

Looking over at all of the dry bones, Starlow examined each and every one. None of the regular ones had anything special to them, but the colorful ones did. The blue one had a note saying,

 _Dear player,_

 _In order to retrieve your key, you will have to take the dry bone shells of all the different dry bones and put them in a certain order on the pedestals in the first and third jail cells. In what order and how to get in the jail cells is for you to figure out. Good luck,_

 _Monty_

Starlow quickly glanced at the first and third jail cells, now realizing that there really was pedestals inside each one. Keeping the note with her, she quickly moved on to the green one. It too had a note that read,

 _Dear player,_

 _If you wish to open the first jail cell up, the combination is; the last number of the room that Toad is currently staying in, the number of players who used the "chase " option during the first challenge, the number of people who had their bags burned in the second challenge, and the second digit of the amount of money that is currently in the team pot. If you answer the lock incorrectly there times, you will not be able to try again for another five minutes. Good luck,_

 _Monty_

Starlow spun around and ran over to the lock that was attached to the jail cell's door. Thinking closely about what the note had said, Starlow began to punch in some numbers, hoping that she was doing the right thing. Her first guess was 3228 as she finished putting the number eight in. The lock did not open. Starlow sighed, herself knowing that she didn't know any of them for certain, aside from what room Toad was in. Trying a second combination, Starlow did 3238 and hoped for the best. It still did not open. Now nervous that she would miss the combination again, she merely waited a bit, hoping that she could come with a different answer that could hopefully be the correct one.

Starlow: I was completely clueless as to what the answer was. I just didn't know how many people lost their fake bags in the second challenge...

Figuring that she could always just search for the other notes if she missed it, Starlow put in her final guess, which was 3248. The lock made a **click** as the door opened. Inside were three of the pedestals that the note had been talking about, her only problem was, how was she was going to get the other door opened? She quickly zoomed back over to the other dry bones as she examined them all very, very closely.

* * *

\- Hammer Bro and Beldam, Switch and Hazard Rooms, F1 and F2 -

Beldam was pacing in her room, the one to the right that is, as she desperately tried to figure out what she had to do in order to open up the door for a longer period of time. There were no other objects in the room, meaning that she couldn't just throw something at it while standing right next to the door. Her other room also had nothing in it, save for the seemingly useless telephone meaning that she was utterly clueless as to what she had to do. The only thing that she could think of was if someone else was in the room, but quite frankly there was no one else around.

Beldam: I just couldn't be so sure. The main solution seemed to be getting another person to come and help and me, but I felt as though there was something else that could be done to solve the puzzle...

Back upstairs, Hammer Bro, who had given up on trying to contact Beldam a while ago, was just moving on to the corridor that held the three random breaks in the floor. Heading over to the first break in the floor, he found a lock with four digits that needed to be placed in it in order to be unlocked. Upon closer and further examination however, he found a note that was right beside the lock, which read,

 _Dear player,_

 _In order to cross, you must answer all four of these questions correctly in order to proceed. If you miss the combination three times, you will have to wait five minutes before you can try again. The combination is; when you entered the pipe that lead you here, you were the_ _ **_**_ _person to enter, the amount of deductions the team pot has gone through so far, the number of floors in this castle, and the amount of people that did not have water as their drink at breakfast this morning. Best of luck,_

 _Monty_

Hammer Bro looked at the note quizzically, finding all of the questions to be fairly easy except for the last one.

Hammer Bro: How was I supposed to know that last one? I wonder if the quiz that's coming up is like this...I'm definitely glad that I have an exemption now...

Hammer Bro quickly put in a few numbers, hoping that he had done it correctly as he noticed that the lock did not open. Biting his lip, he wondered what else the combination could be aside from 5249. Figuring that it was the last number that was throwing him off, he typed in the combination 5248 as the lock went **click** and the floor came back from the side of the wall right next to it. Moving onward, the next break in the floor did not have a combination lock right next to it, but instead a switch right before him. Upon pressing the switch, he realized that the floor came out similarly to how it had done so before, but only stayed out for a second before retreating back into the dark, stone wall. The puzzle was actually similar to Beldam's puzzle in her other room, but they had actually had different solutions as to how to get to their key. Hammer Bro continued to mull over it, but could not think of anything to get across. He was stuck.

* * *

\- Dazzle – Enemy Room, F3 -

While the others struggled to figure out solve the puzzles and tests that they all had to endure, Dazzle was nervously sweating, hoping that she would not get caught by the guards that were still surrounding her. Running over to a block that was very close to a huge group of guards, Dazzle managed to get a peek at the switch, which was, of course, right in the middle of the group of guards. She had never gotten this far yet, and she had already been caught about three times. She didn't want to make that number any higher than it already was. However, it seemed as if the guards simply weren't moving. It soon occurred to her that the only way that she might be able to do it is to perhaps lure them out or find something to else to throw at the switch. Remembering the crates that were at the back of the room, she took a guess that the only way to get the switch was to throw something at it. Looking over at the guards again, she plainly walked into their sight, getting herself thrown all the back to the beginning again. Looking over at the crates however, she noticed that nothing was in the first one. Now remembering when she had first hid in that crate, she decided to check the other two crates. The second one contained a note, which said,

 _Dear player,_

 _If you wish to get past the guards at that are guarding the switch at the back of the room, you will need to do throw one of the objects hidden in the crate to the right of this one Good luck,_

 _Monty_

Dazzle quickly went over to the third crate before pondering the note and its options and retrieved one of the items that the note had been talking about. She pulled out a large book, one that Dazzle could barely hold. He wondered if she could even throw it far enough, let alone aim and if she could do it without getting caught. Heaving the book above her shoulders she headed back over to the stone block again to attempt the difficult task.

* * *

\- Pauline and Fawful – Hidden and Secret Rooms, F1 -

Pauline had just finished the puzzle completely when she looked at her watch for the time. Sighing with relief, she had finally finished the puzzle with who knows how many moves and far over the amount of time she would have liked to spend on it. At many points she had gone over sixty moves, forcing one of their producers filming her have to give her another one with the exact same layout.

"Finally...it's over," she said to herself in relief.

However, nothing happened afterwards. Not a single bit of movement. Just her and the now complete puzzle.

Pauline: I was so utterly confused. I thought that once I had completed the puzzle, I would get my key, but nothing happened at all. Absolutely nothing.

Pauline's heart soon sank as she realized that there was more to the challenge than just a simple fifteen puzzle. No, there was something else here. Something. She didn't know what, but there was most certainly something else to this mystery. Searching around the room for any other clues, she, after a few mere seconds, stopped abruptly and stared hard at one point in the wall by the door. Right between the cracks of the walls, was a dull grey key that blended in with the wall that had concealed it, which she picked up gingerly, groaning as she did it.

Pauline: To find out that there had been no real purpose behind the puzzle was a real let down because I knew that I didn't even have to complete the puzzle in the first place. I could've been out of my room in seconds, but instead it took ten minutes.

Meanwhile, Fawful was still struggling to find his final clue. He was just beginning to give up when Pauline burst into his room, a puzzle in her hands.

"Fawful!" she yelled, a slip of paper in her other hand.

Fawful's eyes opened wider and wider as he saw the final clue and just what they were all talking about.

"Wait, you had that clue the whole time? And what took you so long for your room?" interrogated Fawful.

"I had to solve a fifteen puzzle in under sixty moves. It was ridiculously hard," lied Pauline, not wanting to look like an idiot for not realizing that the key had been in arm's reach for the entire ten minutes. "Anyways, so you need this?"

"Yes I do," Fawful told her as he snatched the clue from her.

Gathering all of the clues up and also taking the number puzzle from Pauline, he managed to come up with a combination that linked the clues to the number puzzle. The other four clues that he had not yet begun to read read,

 _The second digit in the combination is the sum of the third digit in the second row and the second digit in the first row._

 _The third digit in the combination is the square root of the first number in the third row._

 _The fourth digit in the combination is the quotient of the second number in the fourth row and the second number of the first row._

Fawful thought closely and carefully about the clues as he entered the code into the lock. He entered the last digit in the combination 2937 as the lock went **click** and the chest unlocked. Reaching inside, Fawful found his key as he headed over to his door and unlocked it, moving on in the castle.

* * *

\- E. Gadd - Puzzle Room, F1 -

While Waluigi continued to relax on the highest floor of the castle, E. Gadd had just finished up the puzzle.

"And there we have it!" he told himself in triumph. "But now, to hit all of the switches at once…" E. Gadd muttered to himself, glancing at the array of switches.

The switches were in a long, straight line, and no human being on earth should've been able to hit all of the switches at once (although Waluigi might come to mind). In the middle of his thought process however, a sudden noise came from the platform, interrupting his thoughts. The phone was ringing, as it had been all this time, as the professor looked up at the black phone which remained unanswered.

"Hopefully it's not an emergency!" E. Gadd chuckled to himself as he continued onward with his thought process, but only to come to a sudden halt due to a realization.

E. Gadd looked back at the old-school black phone, the ringing now at ease. The black phone. Black. E. Gadd's grin soon grew very wide, realizing exactly what the note had meant. Looking around, he noticed that the platform above was being supported by a large structure, although he thought he saw something out of the corner of his eye at the edge of it. Walking over to the structure, he noticed an empty little crook hidden at the side of the structure, and within that structure, was a switch, this one of a deep and and dark black color. Hitting it, a low rumble was then heard as E. Gadd, who was still grinning, watched as stairs almost magically appeared from the floor, the staircase leading all the way up to the key and the telephone with it.

The black switch had been the final answer to the puzzle, as black after all did contain all of the colors of the electromagnetic spectrum within it, making it so that all of the colored switches could technically be hit all at once. Going up the stairs, E. Gadd grabbed his key and dialed the number on the telephone that the sticky note beside it instructed, hoping that someone would answer.

* * *

\- Hammer Bro and Beldam – Switch and Hazard Rooms, F1 and F2 -

Beldam was still stuck in her room, still keen on figuring out the puzzle when Fawful and Pauline both burst into her room, both of them looking around madly, when they spotted her, they both asked,

"What are you trying to do?"

"I have to get my key from that jail cell over their with this switch. Can you guys just hit this switch so that I can go get this key?"

"Sure, but why can't you just do that yourself?" questioned Pauline, who had been growing a little bit skeptical of Beldam ever since the beginning of the game in both suspicious activity and personality.

"It only keeps the door open for a second, so I can't even get there in time by myself," explained Beldam.

Within a few seconds, Beldam managed to get her key and was brought back out successfully as Beldam completed her part of the mission.

"Thanks, but I still have my other room," Beldam told them as they moved onward and into Beldam's other room.

The players looked around, only to be greeted by the same layout of the floor that Beldam had seen last time. Nothing had changed.

"So what are you try-" Pauline started, only to be cut off by a sudden sound; the phone was ringing.

The three of them all looked at the phone quizzically, all of them with the same amount of confusion in their minds. After several moments, Beldam eventually walked over to the telephone, picked it up, and said,

* * *

\- Beldam and Dazzle- Switch and Enemy Rooms, F1 and F2 -

"Hello?" came a voice from the device that Dazzle was holding, breathing heavily after the challenge that she had just endured finally coming to a halt.

"Hey, this is Dazzle," she replied, thankful that someone had answered.

"This is Beldam, but why weren't you answering me earlier?"

"Sorry, but I was pretty busy. My room had a ton of koopas in it that were guarding it. Anyway, we can talk later, but not now. Oh yeah, and there's a note in my room that says this, 'They must hit the black switch.' Does that make any sense to you?"

"No, it doesn't," but to be sure Beldam looked her room, but unsurprisingly found nothing. Something was out of place.

* * *

\- E. Gadd and Hammer Bro- Puzzle and Hazard Rooms, F1 and F2 -

Meanwhile, in the room right above the current conversation that Hammer Bro was unaware of, Hammer Bro was still trying to figure out the puzzle when the phone randomly started to ring.

"Huh?" Hammer Bro said as he walked back over to the telephone,

Picking up the phone, he started out by saying,

"Hello?"

Silence followed for a few moments before suddenly a voice spoke out with an enthusiastic,

"Hey there chap! What are you doing right now?"

"Is that you E. Gadd? I've been trying to contact you forever by now! What have you been doing?"

"I asked you first lad, what are you doing?"

"I'm just trying to get across a long corridor with a hole at the end of it, and I really don't know what I'm supposed to do about it. How about you?"

"I just now finished my part of the challenge. Is there any way I can help you out there sonny?"

"I don't really think so; you need to be here in order to actually help me out here. Although, I do have this one little note by my phone that says this, 'Switches = Right, middle, right, left.' I have no idea what this means, but does it mean anything to you?"

E. Gadd looked around his room for a bit, looking at the switches in the process.

"You know what lad? I think that does refer to me. I'll let you know if I find anything important."

"All right then, talk to you later," he told him before hanging up, thinking hard about the odd event that had just occurred.

He had thought that the telephone that Beldam had was the one he had been trying to get a hold of, but it had turned out to be E. Gadd instead.

"Wait a second," he whispered to himself before looking back over at Beldam and her floor.

Taking note of the fact that Fawful and Pauline were now accompanying her and that she too was talking to someone, Hammer Bro quickly thought and went over the different possibilities in his mind.

I wonder if…" Hammer Bro started before dialing the number on the sticky note one more time.

* * *

\- Hammer Bro and Dazzle, Hazard and Enemy Rooms, F2 -

"Well maybe it means that-hold on, I'm getting another call from somebody. I'll talk to you in a second," Dazzle told her fellow teammate Beldam.

"All right," responded Beldam, puzzled by the response, but hung up as instructed anyway.

"Who is this?" Dazzle immediately questioned brusquely.

"It's just me, Hammer Bro," he said while holding up his hands as if to surrender, even though he knew that she couldn't see him.

"Oh. Well this is Dazzle. What do you want?"

"I've been trying to contact you for a while now; where have you been?"

"Wait, so you have my number too...hmm. That's weird."

"What is?"

"Well I was just talking to Beldam earlier who said the exact same thing."

"Really? Well I was just talking to E. Gadd."

"Wait, you were talking to E. Gadd?!"

"Yeah, he managed to-wait. I'm getting another call. It's probably from E. Gadd. I'll talk to you in a couple of seconds, all right?"

"Okay," she responded as she heard Hammer Bro hang up on her.

"What is it E. Gadd?" Hammer Bro asked him.

"Hey there sonny. Anyway, I don't think that that note that you have there refers to me lad. I tried a couple of different things, but nothing has really worked."

"That's all right. Apparently Beldam and Dazzle are here too with phones as well, so I'm betting that the note refers to one of them."

"All right then sonny. Also, I just found this," E. Gadd told him as he looked back at the note that he had found on the other side of the structure when he had been looking for any clues. "I just found a note that says something about a key in the third crate. I'm guessing that's pointing towards those two as well?"

"Yep. I'll let you know if anything else happens all right?"

"Sure," responded E. Gadd before their communications were caught off.

Within seconds Hammer Bro had dialed Dazzle's number again, who had been talking to Beldam in her spare time.

"So what did Hammer Bro say about E. Gadd?" asked Beldam out of curiosity.

"He didn't say anything about-wait, I think Hammer Bro's calling me. Talk to you as soon as we're done."

Beldam merely nodded her head in her room as she hung up on Dazzle, waiting patiently for her to call her back.

"What is it Hammer Bro?" Dazzle asked him.

"Okay, so for one thing E. Gadd told me that he found a note in his room that said that there was a key in the third crate. Do you think it's talking about you?"

"Yeah, I think that's me. Let me check though. Just wait there for now though," Dazzle instructed.

"Sure," Hammer Bro responded, waiting for her to return.

Dazzle, now back in reality, looked around her room for a bit before finding the third crate that the note was referencing as she ran over to the box. Dumping out all of its contents, she quickly saw the key fall out before grabbing it and then returning to the telephone.

"All right, I got my key," Dazzle continued as she resumed their previous conversation.

"Good. Now tell Beldam that she should hit the switches in her room in this order; right, middle, right, and left. Once she does that an elevator should come down to take her and everyone else to the second floor. Got that?"

"Got it," responded Dazzle before quickly hanging up and calling Beldam.

"What did he say?" began Beldam.

"He just said that you're supposed to hit the switches in your room in this order; right, middle, right, and then left. That's right, then middle, then right again, and then finishing it off with left. If you do that then apparently an elevator will appear. Do you have the order memorized?"

"I do," answered Beldam as she thrust the phone into Fawful's hands, who barely caught it.

Problems soon began to arouse though as the combination Hammer Bro had given them did not work.

"Why isn't it working?" said Beldam frustratingly as she finished the combination for the third time in a row.

"Let me try," suggested Pauline, who got Beldam to back off and soon stepped up to the three switches.

"Why isn't it working?" Pauline asked no one in particular after several attempts, repeating the same exact thing that Beldam had said when she had been attempting to do it.

After Pauline had double-checked her work, she finally came to a conclusion that the combination Hammer Bro had given them was incorrect. The elevator that Hammer Bro had described was not coming down, and nothing had changed.

"Fawful, the elevator isn't coming down," Beldam informed him.

Fawful, who had been trying to find a different solution elsewhere, nodded his head, and quickly yelled out to Dazzle.

"The combination Hammer Bro gave us isn't working!"

"Got it," Dazzle responded.

But she soon realized that Hammer Bro had to contact her in order to get the message around. Rather than waiting for him to ask if there was anything he could do, Dazzle figured that the message could be relayed around the three of them to get to Hammer Bro.

"Wait, Fawful!

"What is it?"

"In order for me to talk to Hammer Bro, he has to call me because I don't have his number."

"Fink-rat! I'll see if the one who calls himself the professor knows of this number."

Fawful quickly hung up and dialed who he assumed to be E. Gadd's number.

"Hello?" came an answer on the end.

"This is Fawful, the one with the fury. It seems we must contact the one with hammers that the combination is incorrect. Tell him of this at once," he told him before hanging up abruptly.

"Well then," E. Gadd chuckled to himself before dialing the number of Hammer Bro's telephone.

Time was beginning to run desperately low, and the money at risk was getting closer and closer to escaping the players' grasps.

* * *

\- Starlow – Prison Room, F1 -

Starlow was running all over the place, desperately trying to figure out the last part of her puzzle. She had opened both of the jail cell doors and had gotten the five koopa shells in place, but she now struggled to find the one dull bones that had a shell that she could take off, which wasn't very pleasant when she kept on choosing incorrectly. Time was really starting to run out now as the final five minutes started to leave the players and as hope seemed to be dwindling down to nothing. Starlow was getting ready to go back and check all of the dull bones when something that gleamed in the small amount of sunlight that was shining through the only window in her room. A dull bones with a partly silver shell caught her eye as she noticed that the silver part of the shell was very small, amazing her that she even managed to find the specific one at all. Taking the shell, she placed it on the last remaining pedestal as a **click** was heard and the middle jail cell door opened. Swiping the key from the room, Starlow quickly made her way over to the door that lead her deeper into the castle. Upon actually attempting to open the door however, it did not work. Puzzled, Starlow turned to face the other door, which she headed over to. Trying to unlock this door, she managed to find out that the key was actually meant to unlock this door as she proceeded to open the door.

* * *

\- Crump and Toad – Entrance Room, F1 -

"Checkmate," Crump told Bowser.

Bowser eyed the board carefully, knowing that he had to act wisely. Both players only had their kings left, and Crump had one of his bishops and a knight, and that was it. The only reason they had both gotten through the game so quickly was because neither of them were taking much time at all to make their moves (even if they weren't the smartest of choices) and because of the time limit looming above them. Even Bowser was trying his hardest to win, for if he won the game, he would be paid 5,000 coins, but only if he beat him under the allotted time that the players shared with him. Bowser moved his king out of the corner that he was stuck in as he thought that he could still win. He could not however, as Crump's bishop finished both the chess and actual king off.

"Dang it! Well here's your key," grumbled Bowser, slamming the key down on the table before walking away in anger.

"Buh huh huh huh huh huh!" laughed Crump as the duo left Bowser to mull over his loss.

When they entered Toad's room again, all of the guards were gone, and Starlow was merely looking around for any others that were still back here.

"Hey guys! What took you guys so long? We only have about ten minutes left," Starlow told them.

"What?!" exclaimed Toad.

"Come on, let's go," instructed Crump as they ran to Starlow's room.

With Toad and Crump trying their best to ignore the many bones that were laying on the ground, Starlow went for the other door, hoping that whoever was on the other side was just finishing up. The door swung open at the perfect moment as E. Gadd stepped out of the door, himself standing right before Starlow.

"Perfect timing, eh?" E. Gadd told her as he stepped back inside his room so that the others could proceed.

The group trudged through E. Gadd's room as they all got to meet up with the other group.

* * *

\- Beldam and Hammer Bro – Switch and Hazard Rooms, F1 and F2 -

Hammer Bro, now informed of his apparent mistake, looked at the list one more time, not registering anything that looked different from the list that he had told them.

"Well then what the heck…" he muttered to himself as he struggled to come up with a good explanation for why it had been wrong.

He was actually just about to call back and say that they had entered in the combination wrong when he noticed that the sticky note on the wall with the list on it was sticking out a little bit, just enough so that one wouldn't notice it right away, but also enough so that it could be noticed if one looked at it closely enough. Upon looking at the sticky note even closer, he noticed that there seemed to more to the sticky note. So when he attempted to pull the piece underneath out, it flipped right over and right below the sticky note; the sticky note had been folded up slightly, with the rest of the list on the backside of note. Looking at the actual combination, it read as this;

 _Switches = Right, middle, right, left_

 _middle, middle, right, left_

"Damnit!" he cursed over his foolish mistake as he dialed Dazzle's phone number at a rapid pace.

"Hammer Bro?" came a voice on the other end.

"Yep. Tell Beldam to hit the switches in this order all right? It goes right, middle, right, left, middle, middle, right, and then left, okay? That's right, middle, left, middle, middle, right, and then left, all right?"

"Got it," replied Dazzle as she continued to dial Beldam's number after hanging up on Hammer Bro.

"Hey, this is Dazzle again," she told Beldam.

"Okay, did Hammer Bro figure out what the real combination is, or is there another solution to this problem?"

"He found a different combination that he thinks is right this time. It goes, right, middle...middle...umm...hold on."

Meanwhile in Beldam's room, she was instructing Fawful and Pauline to hit the switches in the order that Dazzle was telling her to do so in.

"So that's right, middle, middle, and then what?"

"Umm...wait," paused Dazzle, thinking over what Hammer Bro had told her. "Okay, I think that it's right, middle, middle, left, right, middle, left, and then right, I think."

"Okay, got that. I'll let you know if anything happens."

Beldam then instructed Fawful and Pauline to hit the last couple of switches, hoping for the best. Nothing.

* * *

\- Waluigi – Lookout, F4 -

Waluigi was still looking out at the great land that was being laid out before him, the sparkling water in the distance calming him even further.

"Still enjoying the view?" came a voice from behind him.

"Eh, it's all right," he lied.

Monty grinned at his response, seeing past the lie and noticing that he was indeed enjoying the view very much.

"Well I'm sorry to disrupt you, as it seems as if you are truly relaxed. However, the players only have but ten minutes left remaining, and none of them are here yet. I'll strike you a deal though. And I think that you'll like the offer," he told him as he grinned almost evilly, or perhaps even sinisterly.

"And what is this deal?" Waluigi asked curiously.

Monty looked at him with a smile and put his hand on his back before telling him,

"Just out of curiosity, would you like perhaps, something that I like to call, an exemption?"

* * *

 **Cliffhanger! What is this offer of another exemption, and who will receive it, if anyone at all? Will the group succeed and earn the 40,000 coins for the team pot, or will they run out of time and fall short of victory? And who will be the mole's first victim? Find out in the next chapter coming soon...maybe (don't rely on it).** **Anyway, thanks to all who reviewed! And in the next chapter, we shall find out just who will be going home and thus eliminate one person as a possibility of being the mole. Until next time...**


	4. The First to Fall

**Sorry for the delay! This chapter took me a while to write due to several "drafts" I had made. Basically, I had a lot of different ideas of what to do for this chapter, but I stuck with this. For in this chapter, we shall see whether or not the players will successfully complete their third challenge, as well as find out who the mole's first victim will turn out to be. Find out by the end of the chapter...**

* * *

Waluigi's raised an eyebrow at the host's comment, now interested in what he had to say.

"Go on," he prompted.

"As you must know from the second challenge, an exemption is something that will guarantee that you will make it to the next episode, and you have the ability to receive one right now. If you agree to take this exemption offer, it will cut the earnings of this challenge in half, meaning that even if everyone makes it up here before the time limit expires, only 20,000 coins will be added to the team pot. If everyone makes it up here however, the money will be won, but you will not receive an exemption. If they do not get up here in time however, the money will not be added to the team pot, but you will earn yourself an exemption for this episode. You would not be up for elimination tonight and could not possibly be executed. So, what will it be?" Monty asked him mysteriously.

Waluigi, suddenly under a great deal of pressure, looked out at the shimmering water, hoping that it would help him make the right decision. He began to pace back and forth over the long bridge, his hands gripping each other behind his back. He thought about it closely and carefully, all of the possible outcomes exploding in his mind as he thought about what he should do. Finally however, after many long moments of total and complete silence, he came to a conclusion.

"Okay, I think I know what I'm going to do," he told him.

"And what might that be?" Monty asked him curiously.

Waluigi looked into Monty's eyes and thought about his decision one more time before he gave him his answer. Even after he told him it, thoughts still whipped up a storm inside of his head going over whether it had been the correct decision or not.

* * *

Beldam - Switch Room, F1

"Did it work?" came a voice from the other end of the phone.

"No, it didn't," responded Beldam in a suddenly gruff tone; she was beginning to lose her patience.

"Well then how about you try doing right, middle, right, left, middle, middle, right, and then left," Dazzle quickly replied.

"All right then," said Beldam, somewhat confused by her very sudden answer.

Once again, she instructed the others to hit the switches in the order Dazzle had ordered her to do so in. Just as Pauline hit the last switch, before anyone could react or say anything, a low, loud rumbling could be heard, until eventually the entire castle started to shake from the unknown source. The racket seemed to be coming from above, all of them looking upwards, slightly scared as to what they had just triggered.

* * *

Hammer Bro – Hazard Room, F2

Hammer Bro was just crossing the second bridge when all of a sudden, there was a very loud rumbling occurring from what seemed to be the upper part of the castle.

"What the…" he muttered to himself as he tried to get a good look at what was going on up there.

After a few seconds however, the noise came to a sudden halt, before out of nowhere, a blur whizzed past him, with no further noise being made except for a soft thud a couple of seconds later. Running over to where he had seen the blur, he looked down over the railing, a grin forming on his face as he realized what the commotion had been about. They had done it. The elevator had arrived.

* * *

Beldam - Switch Room, F1

The trio stood still for several moments before they ran over to the elevator, all of them secretly grinning to themselves about their success. Going inside, they realized that the elevator wasn't actually part of the castle, seeing as how the elevator almost had a somewhat futuristic appearance, with a fine silver coating and colorful buttons that were lighted up as different parts of the rainbow. Noticing that although there were plenty of buttons, the only one that seemed to work was the one that said 'F2'. Just as the players had figured this out and had pressed the only operating button, the door over by the switches suddenly flew open, and Starlow, E. Gadd, Toad, and Crump burst into the room.

"Wait! Over here!" called Pauline.

They quickly spotted them in the rather open room and sprinted over to them, filing into the elevator just as the elevator began to close its doors. Inside the elevator, there was a moment of silence as the new group of players that had just joined them caught their breath, but this was soon broken as questions came pouring out of practically everyone.

"Where is this taking us?"

"What was that racket about?"

"What have you three been doing?"

"I'm hungry. Does anyone have any food?" were the types of question made as the group bickered over these questions, with no answer ever given whatsoever.

The chatting came to a dead halt though, as the elevator stopped and the doors opened once more. They were now in the floor right above the previous one, and this one was certainly more obscure than any of the others. It was a long, thin corridor that crept alongside the wall, with a railing on the other side for safety precautions. However, in the middle of this corridor were two breaks in the floor, the possibility that they may have to jump scaring some of the players. Before any of their thoughts could continue however, they laid their eyes on the figure in between the breaks in the floor; Hammer Bro. The gang quickly ran over to him, or at least, as close as they could get to him that is. Hammer Bro, who had been unaware of their presence due to being deep in thought, turned around to pace before jumping ever so slightly at the sight of seeing them. This state of shock quickly turned to happiness however, as he regained his grin.

"What's up guys?" he greeted them.

"Really? What's up?" said Beldam, who obviously wasn't in the mood to happily greet another one of her fellow teammates.

"Anyway," continued Hammer Bro, choosing to ignore Beldam's comment. "So I'm actually kinda stuck. So you see, I have to hit that switch over there," he said as he pointed towards the red switch on the other side of the gap. "But I have no idea how to get over there. And no, I'm not jumping," he said jokingly.

"Sorry, but I have a question too," started Toad. "And it's how you got over this gap right here," he said while pointing to the gap that Hammer Bro had gotten over.

"It's easy," he replied. "All you have to do is just hit that switch right in front of you guys," he explained while pointing to the other red switch on their side. "Except, you have to hit a bunch of times, or else the bridge won't stay out very long. Once you guys get over here you can help me out, okay?"

The others agreed, and the challenge continued. But while the others were making their way across the second bridge, Hammer Bro still struggled to figure out how to get to the third and final bridge to come out. The switch on the other side mocked him, angering him even further. Looking down at his watch, which everyone had received at the beginning of the challenge, he noticed that the time limit still had seven minutes left. They still had a chance. He then began to search the area with regained hope and determination. After his continued failure to figure out a solution, he turned around, only to be greeted by the faces of all of the other players.

"Okay, so again, we have to press that switch over there, got it?" he told them as they nodded their heads. "So I have no idea how to get the bridge to come out, so I want everyone to scout the whole area, down on the first floor, at the beginning of this floor, or with me. Got that?" the players all nodded their heads once more. "Then go!" commanded Hammer Bro as he took control of the action.

The players, using the switch on the other side of the bridge hit it many times once more in order to pass over the gap, before eventually almost everyone was on the other side again and heading over to the elevator. Beldam, Crump, and E. Gadd checked the bottom floor, while Fawful, Starlow, and Toad checked the beginning of the second floor. Pauline and Hammer Bro stayed at the edge though, both of them contemplating hard about how they could possibly reach it.

"How about you go with one of the other groups," Hammer Bro told her.

"No, I'll stay with you," insisted Pauline.

"All right then. How do you think we could get across this?" he asked her.

"I'm not too sure. How about we search the floor first," suggested Pauline.

"That sounds like a good idea," Hammer Bro told her semi-sarcastically, knowing that the solution wasn't on the already well searched ground.

But Pauline didn't pick up on this hint of sarcasm and she proceeded to search the floor, with Hammer Bro eventually deciding to join her. Meanwhile, the other groups weren't having any luck at finding anything either.

"Would any of these pieces of paper say how to do it?" Toad asked no one in particular.

"I have no idea," said Starlow frantically, looking everywhere.

"Maybe a clue is hidden in the elevator," suggested Beldam.

"I doubt it. It's probably down over here," Crump told her.

"I think we're all taking this search far too overboard," said E. Gadd calmly as he searched for far more obvious locations.

As they all searched however, time, as always, began to run out again.

"Wait, what the heck?" Hammer Bro whispered to himself.

"What is it?" Pauline asked him curiously.

"It's just that my watch...it just went down by three minutes." he explained.

"What? How in the world is that possible?" wondered Pauline.

But when she looked back at her own watch, she saw that he was indeed telling the truth.

"But why?" she asked no one in particular.

"Someone else that isn't here must be messing with the amount of time we have left," he suggested.

"But who isn't here?"

"Well," thought Hammer Bro. "There's Dixie, Dazzle, Koopie, and…Waluigi."

They looked at each other with wide eyes, both of them figuring the same exact thing.

"Waluigi must be doing something with it. Of course the greediest person here is the one that's probably doing something with the time limit," said Pauline.

"Probably...probably..." he said as he nodded his head, his thoughts starting to drift elsewhere.

Hammer Bro: Of course Waluigi of all people was messing with the time limit. Of all people it was probably him. And if it is him, which it probably is, we'll probably end up losing the challenge.

* * *

Waluigi – Lookout, F4

Waluigi looked nervously at the watch on his wrist that the producers had given everyone. He was thinking hard about his decision when he noticed that the time left remaining was now officially down to three minutes and fourteen seconds left remaining. Waluigi put his arms behind his head as he hoped that he had made the right decision.

"Do you remain confident with your choice?" Monty asked him.

Waluigi nodded his head at his question, though uncertainty still showed on his face.

"Yeah, I am," he replied as coolly and as calm as he could, which wasn't very much of either.

* * *

Hammer Bro – Hazard Room, F2

Time zoomed by in the search for the solution to getting over the final gap, as only three minutes remained, and no progress had been made. The emotions the players experienced were mixed, with some like Crump getting frustrated with it and began to search even more ferociously than before. Others, such as E. Gadd, remained calm, looking for the solution at their own pace. And others had quite frankly, given up. Hammer Bro was one of those had given up, figuring that either they had lost the challenge by now or that someone else would find the clue. He looked towards the nearby window, a cool breeze coming right up to his face to help cool him down a bit. Looking back down, he suddenly came up with an idea as he looked towards the window.

"Wait a second..." he told himself as he peered out of the window.

"Is there something there?" Pauline asked him.

"Yep," Hammer Bro told her as he jumped out of the window.

Pauline rushed over to see where Hammer Bro was, fearing for the worst, when she realized what Hammer Bro had meant. Outside, there was a ledge which could then be used to travel to the other side. Sprinting over to the other side, Hammer Bro quickly jumped through the next open window, which led him to the next platform. He quickly pushed the switch as Pauline called for the others. The third bridge soon appeared as the group of players sprinted towards the door that Hammer Bro was currently unlocking with a key that was right next to the door. The clock continued to tick down as the players sprinted through the rest of the rooms in the castle. They sped through these rooms at a rapid pace, the past players who had been there previously having already left and had since finished their part of the challenge. It was now simply a test of time.

* * *

Waluigi – Lookout, F4

Waluigi looked nervously at the beautiful scenery that was still being laid out before him as he continued to hope that his choice had been the right one. Looking back at Monty, he was still smiling, looking only back at him. Looking back at the scenery, Waluigi hoped that the time was at where he wanted it to be. Loud steps started to come however as the doors opened and the rest of the players entered.

"Did...did we make it?" Hammer Bro asked their host in between breaths.

"Players," announced Monty, completely silencing everyone. "You have all finished this mission in..." Monty paused for the extra effect. "A total of twenty nine minutes and eighteen seconds!"

The players cheered and clapped; the money had been won.

"However," continued Monty, completely silencing all of the players yet again. "While all of you did indeed get here within thirty minutes, I struck Waluigi a deal. I would also like to add that while all of you worked very hard to get past the many challenges in this castle, Waluigi did not have to do anything but enjoy the magnificent view. Continuing onward, he had the option to take an exemption offer that would make it so that if you guys didn't arrive here before the time limit expired, no money would be awarded and Waluigi would receive an exemption. You guys did make it in thirty minutes, however the offer didn't end there. You see even if you had all made it up here within the allotted time, only 20,000 coins would have been added to the team pot. Would you like to tell the others what you decided to choose Waluigi?" asked Monty.

Waluigi, who was currently looking down at the ground, replied with a faint,

"I took it."

The others had shocked looks on their faces, some of them even gasping at his rather greedy decision.

"So in doing this, only 20,000 coins will be added to the team pot," Monty told them.

The others nodded their heads, all of them slightly disheartened by Waluigi's choice.

Hammer Bro: It was pretty disappointing to hear about what Waluigi had chosen to do. I mean, we all worked so hard to get past through all of those rooms, and he just puts half of our winnings out the window from his own greed. Not cool man, not cool.

"Or at least, that's what I would be saying if that was it, but it is not," proceeded the man in the blue hat.

The players' faces either brightened or became more sullen as they started to wonder what else there was, and whether it was good, or if it was bad.

"For Koopie's part of the challenge, she had to answer a series of rather difficult questions. There were ten in all that she had to answer, but that was all she had to do in order to obtain her key. She could skip only one question, but after that she would have to penalize the team in some way. She could also answer all of the questions, which would give her the option to either add three more minutes to the clock, or add 5,000 coins to the team pot. If she did not choose to answer any more than one question, she would either have to deduct 5,000 coins from the team pot, or subtract three minutes from the time limit. Would you like to tell the others of your decision, Koopie?" Monty asked her.

Koopie winced in pain as she announced somberly,

"I didn't answer two of the questions, so I decided to deduct three minutes from the time limit," she informed them.

Monty nodded his head at her answer before informing the rest of the players of how that affected the game.

"Since she chose to deduct three minutes from the time limit, your actual time limit ended up being twenty seven minutes, meaning that you guys ended up finishing two minutes and eighteen seconds over the time limit. This, of course, means that no money at all will be added to the team pot."

 **Amount Added :** _0/40,000 coins_

 **Team Pot :** 44,000/100,000 coins

The players were now all looking down at the ground, all of them upset that their efforts had been in vain. Well, except for one of them, that is.

"So since they didn't get here before the time limit expired, does that mean..." said Waluigi.

"Yes, it does Waluigi," Monty told him. "It means that you have earned yourself an exemption for this episode, meaning that you cannot be executed tonight."

"YES!" exclaimed Waluigi as Monty handed him a green card that had "Exemption" written on it in black ink, the card similar to Hammer Bro's. "YES!" he exclaimed again. "Waluigi is invincible, just like I've always been! Wa ha ha ha!" he boasted.

"Well if you're always invincible, then why did you take the exemption?" questioned Starlow.

"Well...um..." faltered Waluigi. "Ummm...it's just nice to be twice as invincible as I always was! Yeah! Now I'm more invincible than ever! Wa ha ha ha ha!"

Starlow and several others rolled their eyes at his comment as he pranced across the whole bridge.

"Now I don't know about all of you," started Monty. "But I found quite a lot of suspicious activity throughout the entire challenge. In fact, it might even be safe to say that everyone contributed to today's loss. The mole included," he added mysteriously.

The players pondered his words, now starting to remember that the quiz was coming up, all of them wondering about just how everyone managed to contribute to the loss.

"Now, let us move on, for there is no point in mulling over our losses. Let us head back to the hotel," Monty told them as the group walked back through the castle and headed back.

The quiz was almost upon them though; time was running out. One of them would be going home soon.

* * *

The players had just gotten back from their long walk when Monty told them to go into the lobby of the hotel and to wait for him there. With the players slightly curious as to what he was going to show them, they all sat down and waited patiently. After several minutes, Monty returned.

"Players, I have some additional info to share as to what Koopie went through today during the challenge," he told them.

The layers fell silent as they awaited Monty to continue his announcement.

"Koopie's part of the challenge, as you all probably remember, was to try to answer all ten of the questions that I asked her. She could skip one question, but that was all. If she decided to skip any more questions, she could've either had the time limit lowered by three minutes or deduct 5,000 coins from the team pot. If she answered all of the questions, she could either add 5,000 coins to the team pot, or she could give add three minutes to the time limit. You all know that she skipped two of the questions and decided to deduct the time limit by three minutes, but using this computer screen, you can all view just exactly how she answered all of these questions," Monty told them as a computer screen in front of them revealed all of the questions that Koopie had had to go through, as well as all of her answers.

 **Question 1: Besides yourself, who do you most want to win?**

 _Answer: Dixie_

 **Question 2: Who do you think is the greediest person here?**

 _Answer: Waluigi_

 **Question 3: Who would you most want to form a coalition with?**

 _Answer: Dixie_

 **Question 4: Who do you think is the most trustworthy person here?**

 _Answer: Dixie_

 **Question 5: Who do you think could betray you?**

 _Answer: Dixie_

 **Question 6: Who is the most deceptive person here?**

 _Answer: Skipped_

 **Question 7: Who is the best person for making money for the team?**

 _Answer: E. Gadd_

 **Question 8: Who do you want to be the first one executed?**

 _Answer: Waluigi_

 **Question 9: Who do you think will be the first one executed?**

 _Answer: Starlow_

 **Question 10: Who do you think is the mole?**

 _Answer: Skipped_

The players all looked at Koopie or at the ground as they contemplated what she had said in her answers. Koopie remained motionless, not making eye contact with anyone.

Dixie: I didn't know that Koopie trusted and liked me so much. But can I trust her? Her answers don't all seem like they fit her though...it makes you wonder; what is she really trying to do?

Waluigi: Well, I'm not really surprised by the fact that Koopie can't find the good in me. I'm not really hurt by the fact that she wants me out though. Looks she'll just have to wait a little bit longer for that to happen! But it doesn't even matter. I just have to wait for her to be the first one executed! Wa ha ha!

Starlow: So Koopie thinks that I'm going to be the first one executed, huh? Well, I guess I can't really argue with that, because it's probably true. With every minute that passes, I'm just getting more and more unconfident about who the mole is. I think that I'd be more surprised if I made it the next episode than not.

Fawful: It's rather intriguing to me how she skipped both of the questions that she skipped. The latter is more understandable, seeing as how that was the very question of the whole game, and revealing your answer to others would be foolish. But then again, she could've lied about she thought the mole was and given herself an advantage in the game by getting others to believe that she suspected someone fairly obvious, like Waluigi. But what confuses me is why she didn't answer the sixth question, which is who she thought was the most deceptive person in the game. She's probably hiding the fact that she thinks the most deceptive is someone more secretive, but is keeping it secret because she actually thinks that maybe they're the mole. But after choosing to skip it, it became pretty obvious anyway, so a question arises. What was she actually trying to do in her part of the mission?

Pauline: It certainly is interesting how she decided to take three minutes away from the clock, because without that deduction of time, Waluigi wouldn't have received an exemption and we would still have earned 20,000 coins for the team pot. Had she just deducted 5,000 coins from the team pot or just chosen not to skip two questions, we would've have earned that money.

"Well players, it looks like we are almost done with this episode. But before we move on, we're going to have a little bonus challenge," Monty told them all. "I know you just had your third challenge just half an hour ago, but I promise that this won't take too long. Anyway, as I was saying, bonus challenges appear once every episode at a random time and can add or deduct money from the team pot, or can give players things not yet introduced to any of you yet like +1s, -1s, exemptions, and neutralizers. This time around, we will be playing a game of based off of how well you truly know the other players. We will be taking a small walk-" groans filled the air. "Ahem. We will be taking a small walk, and I truly do mean it this time. We will be walking to where the old fortresses lie just off to the east of this peaceful village. From there, another game show host will have you answer some questions about each other. The rules will be furtherly explained later when we get there. Do you all understand?" asked Monty.

The players all nodded their heads in agreement.

"Very well then. Please follow me," he instructed as the players followed him, drawing farther and farther away from society.

* * *

\- At the Fortress -

The players were walking at a slower pace now than before, the pain in their legs from the previous challenge still lingering and haunting them as they moved on into the forest. The amount of light started to diminish as they walked into the forest, the trees guarding them from the sun, even if the players didn't desire to be protected. It wasn't long before they stumbled upon a fortress stubbornly blocking their path of proceeding any further had they so desired to go further. But the players instantly recognized it as the fortress that Monty had been talking about. Monty led them inside the stone fortress, all of them slightly nervous for what was to come. When everyone had finally gotten inside, a door from above slammed down, blocking the only entrance and exit. Toad could be heard gulping, although the others knew that they were perfectly fine. The door blocked out all the light, engulfing them in darkness inside of the fortress. For a few moments, there was silence, but then within a few mere seconds, a light flashed, stunning everyone and causing minor pain to some of their eyes. After a couple of seconds had passed of the players trying to regain their vision, as well as their wits, they came to the realization that there was now another individual with them. In front of them, with a red and white bowtie located on his chin, which would look odd on anyone else, was a gray thwomp, glaring at them.

"Mmmm hmmm hoo ha ha!" he boomed, startling the players. "So you're those Mole folk! Well, we have plenty prepared for you!" he laughed. "But before I do anything else, I'll introduce myself."

He then spun around a couple of times, the lights going out once more. Within mere seconds however, the lights flashed back on, once again stunning the players. This time however, instead of seeing the stone walls of the fortress, they saw the dazzling and flickering lights that a game show might have. And how accurate that proved to be. The thwomp, who had been turned away from them, spun around once more, before announcing,

"Hey HEY, ladies and germs! Welcome everybody, to the 67th Super Fun Quirk Quiz! Perk up those ears! If you correctly answer a question about your peers, you'll win 1,000 coins for the team pot! Get it wrong though, and no money will be awarded! Nope, none! But it doesn't end there! If you get your question right, you can compete against anyone else who correctly answered their question for a very valuable prize! What's that prize you might ask? Well you'll have to find out yourself! Mmmm hmmm hoo ha ha!" he chuckled, before his smile suddenly disappeared and he slammed down on the ground twice. "So, who's going first?" he asked in a booming voice that reverberated in the fortress.

Silence spread throughout the players. Not one of them desired to face him, nor did anyone particularly enjoy his personality. Nonetheless, eventually a voice came from within the group of players.

"I'll do it," said the player.

"Very well then," replied the thwomp, smiling happily at the player who had volunteered. "Step forward and take a seat."

Koopie walked over to the old wooden chair that the thwomp was talking about and sat promptly in it, patiently awaiting her question.

"Now...for the first question!" announced the thwomp, a pressuring song now playing in the background. "Dazzle is in which room at the hotel? Is it room 100, room 101, room 102, or room 103?"

"Room 102," Koopie immediately answered.

"That is correct! You win 1,000 coins for the team pot!" he congratulated while smiling at her, though he seemed to be forcing his smile.

"Next contestant!" he said while Koopie returned to the group.

Fawful walked up next, a grin on his face; he was confident.

"Now...for the second question!" announced the thwomp as Fawful took a seat. "When did Pauline go to shoot at the target in the first challenge? Was it fourth, sixth, eighth, or ninth?"

Fawful thought for several seconds before answering, "Eighth."

"That is correct! You win 1,000 coins for the team pot! Next contestant!"

Fawful then got up and allowed Dixie to sit in the chair, who was going next.

"Now...for the third question! What is Starlow's occupation? Is she a bank accountant, a manager, a lawyer, or a botanist?"

Dixie didn't have to think very hard to come to a final answer.

"Manager."

"That's...correct! Argh! How come you guys keep on getting these right?" he asked playfully, although the forced smile was more evident now. "Next contestant!"

Dixie then hurriedly left, only to be replaced by Crump.

"I got this!" he told himself.

"You got this huh?!" the thwomp replied. "Well if you're so confident, then here's your question! When is Beldam's birthday? Is it November 2nd, June 21st, January 17th, or October 22nd?"

Crump thought long and hard about his answer, but he eventually came up with what he thought to be the correct one.

"October 22nd," he said with uncertainty.

"You blithering meathead! You're wrooooooong!" he blared at him. "Ahem. Sorry, but that is incorrect. No money will be awarded."

Crump's face, although no one could see it, was in a mixture of anger and confusion, although after several seconds he managed to regain focus and headed back over to where he had been standing. When no one went up to go next, the thwomp pounded on the pedestal he was on top of twice before blaring,

"Next contestant!"

It took several more moments before anyone bothered to go up, but eventually, Hammer Bro went up for his turn for the sake of keeping the game going.

"On to question five!" announced the thwomp as Hammer Bro sat down in the chair. "What is Fawful's last name? Is it Chortles, Shiner, Siren, or Von Grapple?"

Hammer Bro immediately answered, "Chortles."

"That's...that's... that's correct!" the thwomp stuttered. "You've won 1,000 more coins for the team pot!" he boomed as he smiled his now obviously fake smile at him.

Hammer Bro fake smiled back before hurriedly running over to the group, who patted him on the back once he got back over to them.

"And now for the next question!" he boomed once more as E. Gadd went up to the chair to go next. When he saw E. Gadd, he smiled and asked him, "Are you ready for the diabolical question six?"

"Ready as I'll ever be," E. Gadd answered, his usual grin still plastered on his face.

"Well then here's your question!" the thwomp responded back. "When is Hammer Bro's birthday? Is it April 3rd, October 22nd, March 7th, or May 16th?"

E. Gadd paused for a few moments before he responded with a confident, "March 7th."

The thwomp spun around once before exclaiming, "Mmmm hmmm hoo ha ha! WRONG! Wrong wrong wrong! You fool! Now no money will be added to the team pot! Mmmm hmmm hoo ha ha!"

The players, for the first time in the entire game, then saw E. Gadd's usual grin falter and fade away. It had now been replaced by a look of confusion and puzzlement. This lasted for a few mere moments however before his usual happy-go-lucky smile seemed to return to him. He then headed back over to the main group of players, where Beldam decided to take his place.

"Moving on!" continued the thwomp. "Question seven! What is Crump's occupation? Is he a lawyer, a construction worker, a chemist, or a realtor?"

"A construction worker," she answered mere moments after he had finished saying all of the different choices.

"Is that your REAL answer? Are you suuuuuuuuure?" the thwomp asked her questionably.

"Yes," she replied in a monotone voice, positive she had the correct answer.

The thwomp spun around once more before yelling,

"AAAARRRRRGGGGHHHH! That's...correct!"

Beldam smiled and then walked back over to the group, but as she was doing so the thwomp spoke out yet again.

"That question was too easy...but it only gets harder from here! MUCH harder...so prepare yourselves!"

The players were now quite uncomfortable; none of them wanted to go anymore. That was, until Dazzle shuffled forward and took a seat in the wooden chair, which contradicted the game show-like flooring that had many dazzling lights.

"Moving on to question eight!" announced the thwomp for the umpteenth time. "What room is Toad in? Is it room 100, room 101, room 102, or room 103?"

"Room 103," instantly replied Dazzle.

"That's correct!" bellowed the thwomp, saying it in disbelief, even if it was a fairly easy question. "Well, you'll never get the next one right, and I can guarantee that! Oh, just you wait!"

Dazzle, who remained seemingly oblivious to the thwomp's madness, headed back to the main group like the rest that had gone before, only to be replaced by Starlow.

"On to the next question! Which floor was Dixie on in the third mission? Was she on the first floor, the second floor, the third floor, or the fourth floor? Choose wisely now!"

Starlow thought long and hard about this one, and although she had known the answers to all of the other questions, she struggled to recall which floor Dixie had been on.

Starlow: The thing is, I don't remember Dixie saying anything about her part of the challenge. It's like she had never even been there.

"Uhhhh…..ummm….uhh….the second floor?" Starlow guessed.

The thwomp spun around in a circle once more, booming,

"WRONG! YOU'RE WRONG AGAIN, FOOL! Ahem, I'm sorry, but that is incorrect. As a punishment, no money will be added to the team pot," the thwomp said, his voice rising as he said it.

Starlow, now officially scared stiff, floated back over to the others in jiffy, not wanting to look at the strange being again.

"Now who shall go next?!" asked the group of players.

Toad, much to the disbelief of the rest of the group, stepped forward with trembling legs and took a seat in the chair. Upon seeing his anxious state, the thwomp smiled and announced,

"What's that I hear, your little knees knocking?" he laughed. "Now...for the impossible question ten!"

The word 'impossible' made Toad gulp anxiously.

"When is E. Gadd's birthday? Is it January 27th, July 26th, February 12th, or April 3rd?" the thwomp asked him.

Toad managed a slight smile at the April 3rd answer, for that was his own birthday. But this smile faded, as he realized that he didn't even know his own alliance partner's birthday.

Toad: I knew that I was going to guess the incorrect answer with my luck, and I also knew that everyone was going to suspect me of being the mole because of it. But I really don't remember E. Gadd ever telling me anything about his birthday...or anything at all about himself.

Toad shook his head several times before eventually shrugging his shoulders and answering,

"July 26th."

"Nope!" replied the thwomp. "That is WRONG. WRONG, WRONG, WRONG! Can't you do anything right?!"

For a moment Toad felt anger surge through him, but this was almost immediately followed by sadness and a large sense of failure as he walked back to the group in shame.

"Next!" came the familiar voice by the chair.

Without hesitation, Pauline stepped forward, her conscience telling her to avenge Toad.

"Next is the diabolical question eleven!" announced the thwomp as always. "What is Waluigi's surname? Is it Shroomoise, Trader, Pounder, or Wario?"

Pauline almost laughed at the level of difficulty that the question was at and answered,

"Wario," instantly.

"That's...that's...that's correct! That question was too easy...but the next one is much harder! MUCH harder!"

Pauline walked back over to the group proud of herself for avoiding getting yelled at, even if it was an easy question. Finally, the last player stepped forward and sat down in the chair, the most uncaring look on his face.

"Are you ready for the diabolical question twelve?" the thwomp asked Waluigi melodramatically.

"No," he muttered.

"Well here's the question!" the thwomp continued, ignoring his answer.

"When did Koopie go to retrieve her bag in the second mission? Was it second, third, fourth, or fifth?"

"Third," replied Waluigi with not a moment's thought, slightly surprising the players in how he knew that so well.

"AAAARRRRRGGGGHHHH! That's...correct!" boomed the thwomp, angered about his loss.

Waluigi merely shrugged his shoulders and headed back over to the group, totally uncaring of the thwomp's attitude.

"Well players, congratulations on your overall earnings of 8,000 coins!" congratulated Monty.

The group cheered, though their cheer was interrupted by the thwomp, who yelled,

"But it's not over just quite yet! No, no, no. We still have the competition for the spectacular prize."

"I have not forgotten," replied Monty. "Players, if you got your question correct you may participate in the bonus game. The ones not allowed to participate are Crump, E. Gadd, Starlow, and Toad. The rest of you may join. The rules go like this; every one of you will be assigned a position by these machines," he said as he pointed towards eight different stands that had appeared almost magically. "These stands that you see each have a green and a red button on them. This is important, for yes or no questions will be asked to all of you at once. If you think that the answer is yes, hit the green button. If you think that the answer is no, hit the red button. If you get it right, you move on. If you get it wrong, you are ejected from the competition. There is also a ten second time limit, so make our decisions quickly. That is all. Does everyone understand?"

The players nodded their heads to show that yes, they did indeed understand.

"Good. You may all now choose where you may like to stand," instructed Monty.

The players shuffled over to where they desired to be before eventually they were all at one of the stands.

"Is everyone ready?" Monty asked for confirmation.

The players nodded their heads, the majority of them ready to have a battle of wits and knowledge.

"Very well then, you may begin, thwo-" started Monty.

"Well well well!" interrupted the thwomp. "Here we are, at the competition for the spectacular prize," he said, putting great emphasis on the spectacular prize bit. "And I certainly hope you remember what Monty said, 'cause here's question number one!"

Upon hearing this, the players readied themselves; they held their hand over the two buttons, ready to hit one or the other.

"True or false? In the second challenge, Toad was the ninth person who was supposed to go retrieve his bag."

The players, most of them stumped by the very first question, took a moment to ponder their answer, before shrugging and guessing the answer. Only Waluigi and Dazzle seemed to know the answer immediately.

"5...4...3...2...1...0! Time is up!" counted down the thwomp. "Now…..for the answer! In the second challenge, Toad was…...the ninth person that was supposed to go retrieve his bag!"

Suddenly, as the thwomp announced this, several of the players' machines suddenly had the buttons on it turn gray, as all of the people who had answered false were eliminated.

"Now, on to question two!" continued the thwomp.

Waluigi, Dazzle, Koopie, Pauline, and Fawful were left remaining. Hammer Bro, Beldam, and Dixie could be seen walking back towards their actual game show host.

"True or false? Beldam got how four incorrect answers in the second challenge," announced the thwomp.

The players left remaining answered fairly quickly, causing the thwomp to reveal the answer slightly earlier than last time.

"Now…..for the answer! In the second challenge, Beldam answered…..only two answers incorrectly!"

This time, Pauline, Koopie, and Fawful were sent back to the main group, leaving only Waluigi and Dazzle, who glared at each other.

"Now," started the thwomp. "For the third, and possibly last question; is this statement true or false? Starlow, in the first challenge, shot eight bullet bills at the target until she finally hit it."

Waluigi answered immediately, although Dazzle took her time with the question until she carefully selected her answer.

"Now…..for the final answer. Dazzle, you said false, Waluigi, you said true. Now we will see which one of you was actually right. Starlow took a total of….zero shots with the bullet blaster," announced the thwomp.

"What?!" yelled out Waluigi. "That's impossible!"

"I believe Starlow used the banzai blaser, not the bill blaster," explained Monty from behind them.

Waluigi's face took one of realization, until it transformed into rage and hatred.

"That's….stupid!" he yelled, at a loss for words. "Oh, whatever. It was probably something useless anyway…" Waluigi muttered to himself as he stormed back over to the others.

"Now Dazzle, you have a choice," started the thwomp. "You may either double the amount of earnings made in this challenge to 16,000 coins," he paused. "Or you may get rid of the 8,000 coins that have already been earned and give yourself something called a +1."

"Basically," spoke out Monty. "You can get your overall quiz on the score a minor bump up by giving yourself an extra point on the quiz," explained Monty. "It's not as good as an exemption, but it can still save you from death in this game."

"So, what will it be?" the thwomp questioned once Monty had finished.

Dazzle stood in total silence, mulling it over in her head. At one point she glanced back over at the group of players, before finally looking straight into the thwomp's eyes and answering,

"I'll double the money earned from this challenge."

The group cheered, but the thwomp glared at Dazzle before saying,

"Are you suuuuuuuuure?"

"Yes," was her quiet response.

The thwomp banged down on the pedestal he was on top of before adding,

"One whole point up, just like Monty said. It could mean life or death in this game that you're in. So are you suuuuuuuuurrr-"

"Yes, yes I am," Dazzle answered much more assertively, standing straight up and looking daringly into the thwomp's eyes.

The thwomp banged down on the pedestal he was atop of before ordering,

"FINE. Now GET, OUT. All of you!"

Monty then quickly ushered the group out of the fortress, the thwomp still raging in the background. As the group rushed out of the fortress and began to slow down, Koopie asked Monty,

"What was his problem?"

"The producers and I struck a deal with him," explained Monty. "We made a bit of a compromise that if he came up with all of the questions, he could take whatever money you guys didn't earn, which could've been up to 20,000 coins. That's why he wasn't exactly the happiest when one of you got a question right and when Dazzle turned down the offer for a +1."

"Wow. Well then," Koopie muttered to herself.

"But in the end, you all prevailed and added a bonus 16,000 coins to the team pot!" exclaimed Monty.

The players cheered, though back inside the fortress, loud THUMP could be heard, followed by some laughter from a few of the players.

 **Amount Added:** _16,000/20,000 coins_

 **Team Pot: **_60,000/120,000 coins_

"And with that out of the way, how about we head back to the hotel?" suggested a grinning Monty as the rest of them agreed with him and headed off back to the hotel.

* * *

Later on when they had gotten back to the hotel, the players were waiting patiently for Monty to arrive, who had instructed them to wait for him at the front entrance. Finally, after several minutes of deafening silence, Monty came through the double doors with a green mole bag in his hand.

"Thank you players, for waiting for me," Monty told them. He held up the bag in his right hand. "This, players, holds something you will all want to keep with you."

He began to set down the bag, followed by reaching into it and pulling out what appeared to be books of some sort. They were all colored a light green and also had a moderately large black thumbprint in the middle of all of them. The only thing that appeared to be different on all of them were numbers that were on each one at the bottom-right hand corner that included all of the numbers that were 1-12.

"These, players, are your journals," explained Monty. "You might have found it quite difficult to remember some of the answers to the questions that the thwomp asked you, in which case this is here to help. You will all get one of these journals, and you may also write whatever you wish in these. Be careful however, for it's not against the rules for someone else to read what you wrote down, so be extremely careful with these around others," he said as he began to stack all of the journals on top of each other. When he was done stacking them, he put the large pile of journals on top of a nearby desk before saying, "You may now all take one for yourselves, but again, I must remind you that you should guard them very well," he said as Koopie took journal #6. "And one more thing, if you have your journal damaged, the team pot will be penalized, although you will be allowed to get a new one if you feel that the damages are simply too much," he added as Toad took journal #1.

Their host then fell silent as he waited for the other ten players to choose their journals. In the end, Beldam got journal #2, E. Gadd got #3, Hammer Bro got #4, Starlow #5, Fawful #7, Pauline #8, Crump #9, Dixie #10, Waluigi, #11, and finally Dazzle with journal #12.

"Now," announced Monty as he clasped his hands together. "With that out of the way, you may all enjoy the rest of your day. But please remember that the day is drawing to a close, and one of you will be going home very soon. Other than that, you may all relax and enjoy these final moments together while there are still twelve of you here," Monty told the players as they all soon began to head out of the room. Their time together was indeed running out. The execution was almost upon them all.

* * *

Room 100 – Pauline, Starlow, and Dazzle

The rooms were much more silent now as the execution grew closer, with their room being no exception. Dazzle silently wrote notes in her journal while Pauline and Starlow discussed who they were going to be going for on the quiz.

Starlow: I'm pretty confident now that Pauline and I will make it to the next round. We've selected some nice people to go for on the quiz, I think. I just hope that I'm not the first one executed, although I probably will be anyway...

Pauline: I certainly hope that I'm making the right decision in trusting Starlow. Because if she's the mole, there's no way that I'm going to be making it to the next episode.

Dazzle: I think I've done well so far in this game. I thoroughly doubt that I'll be the one going home tonight. I think that I know who is actually going to be the first one executed...

* * *

Room 101 – Hammer Bro, Crump, Fawful

The room right next to the theirs was no louder as Crump and Fawful also discussed who they were going to go for on the quiz. Even Hammer Bro paced in his room back and forth and back and forth, worrying about the upcoming execution despite knowing that he was already safe.

Crump: Fawful and I have a pretty good idea of who we think the mole is. There's no way that either of us will be executed tonight! *laughs*

Hammer Bro: I may have an exemption, but for some reason I'm still shaking from anxiety. Maybe it's because I'm afraid that one of my top suspects will be executed and that I'll be left confused, but I still can't help but be so nervous for the execution.

Fawful: Crump and I are working well together; he cooperates and works well with me. Hopefully the one who we want to be executed leaves the game tonight, but unfortunately it seems very doubtful for now. Perhaps another time...

* * *

Room 102 – Koopie, Dixie, and Beldam

The next room was also painfully quiet; no noise was being made by anyone. All that could be heard was the scribbling of the players writing in their new journals as they thought about the events that had transpired that day.

Koopie: I really hope I know who the mole is. I suppose if I'm executed, I won't have to travel too far to get back home *laughs*. It's just that I'm not too sure I want to leave this game so soon...

Dixie: I'm utterly clueless as to who the mole is. I might even just try to cover everyone on the quiz so I don't mess it up. But maybe that would make my score too low by spreading it so thin...ugh.

Beldam: I'm taking advantage of the fact that many players now suspect me from the last two challenges. If I can just keep on luring them in, I could very well win this game! Mwee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee!

* * *

Room 103 – E. Gadd and Toad

Unlike the other rooms, across the hallway the two final rooms were much louder as Toad and E. Gadd discussed important matters. The duo were talking about some details regarding their suspect lists as they attempted to determine just who they were going to go for on the quiz.

E. Gadd: During this point of the game, when nobody has the faintest of ideas as to who the mole is, anyone could be going home tonight with all of the low scores. All it would take is a simple mishap of luck and you would be on your way to the door. There's even a possibility that I might be executed! *laughing*

Toad: I'm not too certain if E. Gadd is telling me the truth and being really nice to me, or if he's just trying to get me out of the game. He's actually being pretty generous about giving me information now, but his logic behind all of his choices are all odd. I'm stuck in the middle and I'm not too sure if I trust him or not. I just don't know what he's trying to accomplish by pairing up with me. Maybe this was a bad idea after all...

* * *

Room 105 – Waluigi

Meanwhile, Waluigi was merely pacing around in his room, unable to write anything in his journal because he had already lost it somewhere and didn't care enough to even bother go looking for it. The only thing he could do was just contemplate who the mole was and try to remember all of it, which he was actually quite good at. Out of all of the players, Waluigi was definitely the least nervous, mostly due to his exemption (although he probably wouldn't have even cared even had he been the most likely to be executed).

Waluigi: Was I nervous? Of course not! I am the great Waluigi, conqueror of all, as well as this exemption! Wah hah hah!

* * *

\- 6:30, At the Hotel Dining Room -

The players were just finishing up their dinner when Monty spoke up.

"Players, I would just like to remind you that from the bonus challenge, 16,000 coins were subtracted from the team pot due to rematches. This still leaves the total team pot at 60,000 coins however, which is still quite a great sum of money, even at this point in the game. I congratulate you all," he told them as they all cheered for their current winnings, although eleven of them were quite disheartened that they had only made half as much as they could've.

"However, tonight you shall all be facing your very first execution," announced Monty, leaving the room extremely silent. "One by one, we shall be calling all of you to come and take your very first quiz. The quiz is ten questions about who the mole is, with the lowest scorer on the quiz being the one that leaves the game. If there is a tie, the person that completed the quiz in the slowest amount of time will be the one that is executed. As you all very well know, Waluigi and Hammer Bro both have exemptions, meaning that they cannot be executed. The rest of you however, are all up for elimination. And with that, a toast, to the executed person, and to wish them a loving farewell, to whoever you may be."

Glasses came together as they all made a toast to the executed player, the ringing made from glasses being brought together giving the players an uneasy feeling in all of their stomachs as they all truly realized what would be taking place oh so very soon. The quiz was now upon them, and so was the execution. One of them was going home tonight.

* * *

One by one, they were asked to go into their separate rooms that held a single laptop that was laid out on a single wooden desk before them. It was this quiz that would determine their fate. Starlow, the first to take the quiz, sat down in the leather chair right beside the laptop and squinted at the computer screen, the first question glaring at her.

 **Question #1: _Is the mole male or female?_**

 _-Male_

 _-Female_

Starlow: I thought it was odd how in the very first challenge, Crump and Waluigi stalled the group on who would go when and who would get the banzai blaster. Only the first few people got to go when they wanted, meaning that they had both made the challenge a little bit harder by stalling us with their completely useless argument over who would go first.

The next player that entered the room once Starlow had finished was Dazzle, who sat down in the chair, a quiz strategy already in her mind.

 **Question #2: _How many bullet bills or banzai bills did the mole fire in the first challenge?_**

 _-1_

 _-2_

 _-3_

 _-4_

 _-5_

 _-6_

 _-7_

 _-8_

Dazzle: Starlow is very unique. She's very kind to everyone, but she's been messing up all of the missions. She penalized the team by 1,000 coins for using the "chase" option in the first challenge, but still was the one to take the banzai blaster, meaning that it had been wasted. She had my turn skipped in the second challenge when I was supposed to go get my bag by incorrectly answering a question three times, and in the third challenge she seemed to lead some of us away from the window, which was exactly where we needed to go.

Dazzle then finished the quiz, with the next player being Pauline, who paused at the third question once she had gotten that far, stumped by it entirely.

 **Question #3: _Which person was the mole relying on to get their question correct so that they could go get their bag in the second challenge?_**

 _-Starlow_

 _-Beldam_

 _-E. Gadd_

Pauline: Dazzle backing out of our coalition offer was very strange. She flat out refused to join us and just left us without any explanation, even after we were just starting to get along. With that being said, she also went for the exemption in the second mission and sacrificed 2,000 coins in order for a chance to earn the exemption which she didn't end up getting anyway.

A fourth player, this one with suspects in mind, took a seat behind the desk and slowly began to answer the questions with a well thought out strategy in mind.

 **Question #4: _What floor was the mole on in the third challenge?_**

 _-F1_

 _-F2_

 _-F3_

 _-F4_

Fawful: Pauline not helping me at all in the third challenge was certainly a little bit suspicious. I had asked her very specifically if there were any slips of paper in her room, and she said that she didn't. Later on though, she gave me a slip of paper that she told me she had had all along during the entire mission. It certainly is a little bit odd...

The fifth player walked into the room once Fawful had finished, confident that he would move on to the next episode, mostly because he had a green card in his hand, something which he had come to know as an exemption.

 **Question #5: _Did the mole receive an exemption this episode?_**

 _-Yes_

 _-No_

Hammer Bro: Fawful has been pretty nice this episode, and he didn't even really sabotage anything, but something about him rubs me the wrong way. He seems like he's trying hard to keep up some kind of cover up, so that the others will like him. There's just something about him. Either he's planning something devious in the future, or he's the mole.

A sixth player, this one being one of smiles and happiness, entered the room jollily, as if there were no chance that he, of all people would be eliminated.

 **Question #6: _Did the mole get to the bonus round in the bonus challenge?_**

 _-Yes_

 _-No_

E. Gadd: Something that I found very odd about Hammer Bro was that he directed everyone away from the window in the third challenge, only to later have himself find that it just so happened to hold the answer. That and the beginning of the challenge with him and Beldam with some communication issues both add up to something very fishy...

In a nearby room however, was a room identical to the one E. Gadd was currently in, and this individual lacked confidence, almost the total and complete opposite of him.

Koopie: Something strikes me as very odd about E. Gadd. He didn't mess anything up, but that's exactly why he looks so suspicious to me. He may be a psychologist, as well as seemingly being one of the smartest people in the world, but he knew every answer to the questions he was given in the second challenge and he finished the puzzle regarding hitting all of the switches in the third challenge all by himself. So, is he really just that smart, or did he know the answers beforehand...

An eighth player, having anxiety issues about the quiz and the upcoming execution, worried and based her answers off of how people acted rather than how they performed in the missions.

 **Question #7: _What room is the mole currently in?_**

 _-Room 100_

 _-Room 101_

 _-Room 102_

 _-Room 103_

 _-Room 105_

Dixie: I like Koopie a lot, but I can't help but wonder if she's the mole. Her answers in the third challenge were very interesting, and she would have a perfect cover for herself if she was the mole. She's smart, cute, and very sly with what she does, so she could virtually get away with anything without arousing any suspicion. And after that last mission where she basically lost the game for us, I think it only confirms my thoughts.

A ninth player soon followed after the others, this one scheming an evil plot in her mind as she hoped that the one that she wanted executed and out of the game would indeed be the one to leave that night.

 **Question #8: _Was the mole in the randomized list for the exemption in the second challenge?_**

 _-Yes_

 _-No_

Beldam: Dixie seems like she's all loving and caring, but I have other interpretations. During the third challenge, Dixie said she had to cross a long beam many feet above the ground, but she didn't say anything else. It just seems like that would be so short and fast compared to what we had to do. It makes you wonder if she was doing something else up there while the rest of us were trying to get our own keys. Perhaps that would be a perfect time for the producers to talk to the mole. Hmmm...

A tenth player, this one also in the room adjacent to the one that most players were doing their quizzes in, clicked on his answer to the eighth question nervously, before quickly regretting his answer to the question, wanting to go back.

Toad: I'm not too sure about Beldam. From what I've heard it sounds like Beldam, in the third challenge, headed into her other room that didn't have the telephone and stalled while doing absolutely nothing. During the second challenge she also randomly got Koopie's exact birthday correct even though it was obvious that she didn't even have a clue as to what it was. But I don't know, I'm pretty much going into this whole thing blind. I mean, it could be anyone. Anyone...

The eleventh player, this one having an exemption like one of the other contestants, smirked as he reached the ninth question, proud of his rightfully deserved exemption, or at least, that's what he was telling himself. But deep down on the inside, despite having an exemption, he still worried about the upcoming execution and just who exactly, was going to be going home.

 **Question #9: _Where did the mole go when there was free time to go wherever you wanted?_**

 _-Shopping_

 _-Explored Petal Meadows_

 _-Golfing_

 _-The mole stayed at the hotel_

Waluigi: Toad seems to be pretty innocent through many people's eyes, but I think that he's up to something. Throughout the episode, Toad did minor sabotages along the way. In the first challenge, he sacrificed money to use the "chase" option, which cost us 1,000 coins. In the second challenge he sacrificed money to try to get the exemption that Hammer Bro ended up getting, costing us another 2,000 coins. And finally in the third challenge, it sounds like he sabotaged by running into the guards continuously, wasting time. If he had done it early, he probably could've been able to help Crump, who could've helped Starlow, who could've helped E. Gadd, the list goes on. Maybe had he gotten out early, we still would've earned 20,000 coins.

The final player, this one also in the sequestered room that few actually ended up taking the quiz in, looked at the ninth question and began to wonder if he was making the right choices in who he was going for on the quiz.

Crump: Waluigi is very suspicious for obvious reasons. He almost had us lose in the first challenge because he took so many shots at the target, he sacrificed money to try to get an exemption that he didn't end up getting in the second challenge, and he sacrificed 20,000 coins in the third challenge by choosing to take the exemption. There's definitely some suspicious activity right there.

The players then all eventually got to the very last and final question for the quiz. It was a question that they had all been asking themselves, right from the very beginning. It was a question that some answered more confidently than others, though none were confident at all. It was the final question about the mole's identity, and by far, the most important and also the most difficult.

 **Question #10: _Who is the mole?_**

 _-Beldam_

 _-Crump_

 _-Dazzle_

 _-Dixie_

 _-Elvin_

 _-Fawful_

 _-Hammer Bro_

 _-Koopie_

 _-Pauline_

 _-Starlow_

 _-Toad_

 _-Waluigi_

The players, sooner or later, all finished the final question with doubts lurking in their minds as they could all only hope for the best. Their very first execution was now upon them. One of them was going home.

* * *

\- 9:00 PM, Outside of the Hotel –

The players filed into the seats that were placed in front of a rather large computer screen one by one, all of them nervous for what was to come. The screen had a giant green thumbprint on it with a black background. The players, unaware of how the thumbprint would determine their fate, were both mystified and shaken by the thumbprint. After everyone had taken a seat, Monty walked up to the laptop by the large computer screen and turned to face the players.

"Welcome players, to your first execution. 60,000 coins have been put into the team pot in just this one episode. You should all be very proud of yourselves. However, one of you shall not live any more than you already have in this game to see that amount go any higher. One of you will be going home tonight. One by one, I will be randomly entering your names into the computer. If a green thumbprint appears after your name has been entered, you are safe and will be moving on to the next episode. If however, a red thumbprint appears after your name has been entered, you have been executed. You are the mole's first victim and the lowest scorer on the quiz. You'll have to grab your bag, and leave the game immediately. No goodbyes or farewells, you must simply leave immediately. As you all very well know, Hammer Bro and Waluigi have both earned exemptions, meaning that they cannot be executed. Any questions?" asked Monty.

The players remained silent, all of them hoping for the best, with their hopes being that they would not be the one to go home first.

"Very well then. I wish good luck to all of you, and let the first execution...begin," he said melodramatically. "Hammer Bro, we shall start with you," he announced.

Monty then hit the "enter" key as a red text box with the word "player" in yellow at the top in all caps. Below the word "player" was a white, rectangular box that was within the text box, which Monty began typing Hammer Bro's name into the computer.

"May I please have your exemption, Hammer Bro?" Monty asked him.

Hammer Bro quickly handed him the green card, the other players looking at the card jealously. The moment the card touched Monty's hand, he quickly inserted it into a small compartment that had popped out of the side of his laptop. It soon closed automatically before Monty hit the "enter" key and the text box with Hammer Bro's name on it disappeared, leaving only the giant, scary green thumbprint and the pitch black background.

 **H-A-M-M-E-R B-R-O**

 **…**

 **…**

 **…**

 **…**

 **…**

 **…**

 **…**

 **GREEN**

Hammer Bro merely nodded his head, exhaling deeply as Monty continued onward with the execution.

"Waluigi," he continued, holding out his hand for Waluigi's exemption.

Waluigi walked over to him, a smug grin on his face as he handed him the green card.

Monty soon entered his name into the computer as the slot in the side of the laptop popped back out again, nothing in it yet again. The players looked funnily at the odd compartment as they tried to figure out why Hammer Bro's exemption had randomly disappeared. With the green card now being slid into the compartment, Monty continued to type his name into the computer before hitting the 'enter' key.

 **W-A-L-U-I-G-I**

 **…**

 **…**

 **…**

 **…**

 **…**

 **…**

 **…**

 **GREEN**

"Koopie," he called out.

Koopie buried her face into her arms as she barely peeked through her arms at the screen. Soon enough, Monty pressed the "enter" key after he had typed her name into the computer.

 **K-O-O-P-I-E**

 **...**

 **...**

 **...**

 **...**

 **…**

 **…**

 **...**

 **GREEN**

Koopie breathed in and out a huge sigh of relief, knowing that she was safe. She would be moving on to the next episode.

"Beldam," called out Monty. Beldam looked at the screen while smiling sinisterly; she knew that she had made it to the next episode.

 **B-E-L-D-A-M**

 **...**

 **...**

 **...**

 **...**

 **…**

 **…**

 **…**

 **GREEN**

Beldam merely nodded her head at the screen as she too, was declared safe.

"Fawful."

Fawful looked at the screen in a similar fashion as to how Beldam had as he looked at the screen with dignity and pride.

 **F-A-W-F-U-L**

 **...**

 **...**

 **...**

 **...**

 **…**

 **…**

 **...**

 **GREEN**

Fawful let the grin that he had been saving shine as he bragged to himself in his head about his success.

"Starlow," continued Monty.

"Oh great," Starlow mumbled to herself, her voice barely audible.

"Starlow, are you ready for your quiz results?" Monty asked her.

Looking up, Starlow replied with a faint,

"Yes."

"Very well then," said Monty as he slowly typed Starlows name into the computer and pressed "enter".

 **S-T-A-R-L-O-W**

 **…**

 **...**

 **...**

 **...**

 **...**

 **...**

 **...**

 **GREEN**

Starlow exhaled sharply as she looked at the screen with utmost surprise.

"Well players," announced Monty. "Half of you have been declared safe. The people that are remaining are Dazzle, Pauline, Toad, Dixie, Elvin, and Crump. One of you will be going home tonight. And with that, I wish you all the best of luck as we proceed with the execution," he told them as he turned to face his computer once more.

"Crump," he said as he began to slowly type Crump's name into the computer.

Crump looked at the screen while twiddling his thumbs; he was worried, slowly starting to regret the fact that he hadn't gone for the exemption in the second challenge.

 **C-R-U-M-P**

 **...**

 **...**

 **...**

 **...**

 **…**

 **…**

 **...**

 **GREEN**

Crump smiled underneath his many layers of clothes as he laid back in his chair, finally able to relax now knowing that he had made it to the next episode. Monty then paused as he tried to decide who he would call on next.

"Dixie," he said at last.

Dixie looked at the computer screen with great anxiety as she shook her head and looked towards the grassy ground.

"Dixie, are you ready for your quiz results?" Monty asked her melodramatically.

Dixie responded with a meek,

"Yes," as her face became very sullen.

 **D-I-X-I-E**

 **...**

 **...**

 **...**

 **...**

 **…**

 **…**

 **...**

 **GREEN**

Dixie stifled a laugh at her success, as she had certainly thought that she was going to be the one executed.

"Toad."

"No," Toad said to himself.

Toad covered his face with his arms, only peering out at the screen, hoping that maybe, just maybe, he had escaped the long and cold arm of elimination.

 **T-O-A-D**

 **...**

 **...**

 **...**

 **...**

 **…**

 **…**

 **…**

 **GREEN**

Toad breathed deeply in and out as he laughed, himself amazed that he had made it through to the next episode.

"Any volunteers?" Monty asked three remaining players, Pauline, E. Gadd, and Dazzle.

All of them remained completely silent, Pauline shaking from the overwhelming anxiety, though E. Gadd and Dazzle seemed to be totally resolute and very confident looking.

"Very well then. Pauline," Monty told her.

"Pauline, are you ready for your quiz results?" Monty asked her.

"Yes, I am," she answered shakingly, but with great uncertainty and worry as she feared for the worst as Monty hit the 'enter' key.

 **P-A-U-L-I-N-E**

 **...**

 **...**

 **...**

 **...**

 **…**

 **…**

 **...**

 _ **RED**_

Pauline merely nodded her head in defeat, the others gasping.

"Pauline, please come with me," he told her.

Pauline then followed Monty, leaving a large group of stunned players.

* * *

Pauline was taken to the outskirts of the village, the other players now out of sight. The starry night sky had now returned once more, and the seemingly endless amount of stars amazed Pauline.

"Anything you'll miss about this game?" Monty asked her.

"The players, honestly. Sure the challenges were pretty fun and diverse, but it's really just the other players that I'll miss. I'm going to miss being with them," was her solemn answer.

"Very understandable," he told her as a van pulled up to the duo.

* * *

"I can't believe that she's gone. It all went by too fast," mourned Dixie.

"She was one of the few players that was just trying to have fun here. She was just trying to make some friends, that's all. I don't even think she really cared about winning the game or figuring out who the mole was," added Toad.

"I don't feel as if she should've been the one to leave. There are others here that deserve to leave more," stated Koopie, several glares being shot Waluigi's way, who was just smiling, happy that he was safe and still alive in the game.

"I'm just glad that I'm one step closer to getting that one million coins," commented Waluigi.

Both the number and intensity of the glares rose as Waluigi simply said,

"What? It's true."

"I bet it is," Koopie said under her breath, making some of the surrounding players laugh.

* * *

"Well Pauline, we shall meet again, not too far in the future," Monty told her as the van's doors opened up for her to get inside.

Before Pauline went into the van however, something caught her eye.

"Wait, this is the exact van that dropped me off at the start of the game," commented Pauline.

"Really?" questioned Monty as he examined the van very closely.

"Was that planned?" asked Pauline.

"No, it wasn't," was his response. "We've positioned a van at every point of the game for the executed players that we will be traveling to before you guys even got to the hotel."

"Maybe it was fate then.." Pauline suggested mystically.

"Perhaps," was Monty's answer.

A long pause then ensued.

"Well, whatever the matter, I guess I trusted the wrong people," Pauline finally said.

"Perhaps," answered Monty once more, though he had a slight grin on his face now.

Pauline looked at him questionably before Monty finally said,

"Well, I suppose you must go now. You played with style," Monty told her.

"Thank you," Pauline told him as she climbed into the van and closed the doors shut, before the van began to zoom off into the starry night sky. And then, there were eleven.

* * *

"Well players," announced Monty once he had returned, immediately receiving the attention of the remaining players. "Pack your bags and get a good night's rest, for we're going to our next location!"

The players cheered, though they all still remained slightly saddened by Pauline's death in the game. But it was time to move on. Their next location was drawing closer, as was the episode that it had in store. It was going to be another heck of a ride for the players. And the mole was waiting eagerly for the next episode. It was truly going to be an interesting one. And the mole was going to love it.

* * *

 **And like that, Pauline has been eliminated! A kind hearted soul that perhaps put forth too much trust in others...maybe. Maybe she actually didn't trust anyone at all and was merely unfortunate, or perhaps there's a bigger story behind this. Anyways, thanks to all who have reviewed so far! It really does mean a lot to me! And** **overall, very interesting results guys. Very interesting…Hopefully the next chapter won't take an eon to write, for in the next chapter the gang shall be traveling to their next location! The first episode is coming to a close, and the second is approaching at a rapid pace. Who will be the mole's next victim? Who will receive the next exemption? How much money will the group earn for the team pot? And most importantly, who is the mole? Stay tuned...**


	5. Fun in the City

"Last time on the mole," said Monty in front of a large green background.

"I can't...I can't do this," says Starlow as she heftily puts the banzai blaster down.

"I am the beginning of the end, the end of every place. I am the beginning of eternity, the end of time and space. What am I?" Monty asks E. Gadd.

"Second question, who do you want to win?" Monty asks Koopie as she rubs her temples and writes down her answer.

"I took the exemption," Waluigi announces to Monty and the rest of the players.

"AAAARRRRRGGGGHHHH! That's...correct!" boomed the thwomp.

"60,000 coins have been put into the team pot in just this one episode," Monty congratulates them.

"Let the first execution...begin," Monty announces to the rest of the group.

 **P-A-U-L-I-N-E**

 **...**

 **...**

 **...**

 **…**

 **…**

 **...**

 **...**

 _ **RED**_

* * *

Monty is then displayed again, the same green background still behind him from the beginning of the very first episode.

"Twelve strangers playing for up to 1,000,000 coins. Among them, a traitor, a saboteur, the mole. The one who wins the money? The one who correctly answers the simple question," he says as he looks towards the ceiling at a camera, his arms spread out wide. "Who is the mole?"

* * *

 _ **Player**_ **:** _Dixie_

 _ **Surname**_ **:** _Kong_

 _ **Birthday**_ **:** _February 12th_

 _ **Occupation**_ **:** _Tour Guide_

 _ **Player**_ **:** _Elvin_

 _ **Surname**_ **:** _Gadd_

 _ **Birthday**_ **:** _January 17th_

 _ **Occupation**_ **:** _Psychologist_

 _ **Player**_ **:** _Beldam_

 _ **Surname**_ **:** _Siren_

 _ **Birthday**_ **:** _November 2nd_

 _ **Occupation**_ **:** _Realtor_

 _ **Player**_ **:** _Koopie_

 _ **Surname**_ **:** _Koo_

 _ **Birthday**_ **:** _July 26th_

 _ **Occupation**_ **:** _Botanist_

 _ **Player**_ **:** _Waluigi_

 _ **Surname**_ **:** _Wario_

 _ **Birthday**_ **:** _March 7th_

 _ **Occupation**_ **:** _Lawyer_

 _ **Player**_ **:** _Hammer Bro_

 _ **Surname**_ **:** _Pounder_

 _ **Birthday**_ **:** _May 16th_

 _ **Occupation**_ **:** _Bodyguard_

 _ **Player**_ **:** _Starlow_

 _ **Surname**_ **:** _Shiner_

 _ **Birthday**_ **:** _September 9th_

 _ **Occupation**_ **:** _Secretary_

 _ **Player**_ **:** _Crump_

 _ **Surname**_ **:** _Von Grapple_

 _ **Birthday**_ **:** _August 29th_

 _ **Occupation**_ **:** _Construction Worker_

 _ **Player**_ **:** _Dazzle_

 _ **Surname**_ **:** _Trader_

 _ **Birthday**_ **:** _December 18th_

 _ **Occupation**_ **:** _Accountant_

 _ **Player**_ **:** _Toad_

 _ **Surname**_ **:** _Shroomoise_

 _ **Birthday**_ **:** _April 3rd_

 _ **Occupation**_ **:** _Cashier_

 _ **Player**_ **:** _Fawful_

 _ **Surname**_ **:** _Chortles_

 _ **Birthday**_ **:** _October 22nd_

 _ **Occupation**_ **:** _Chemist_

* * *

\- 9:00 AM, At the Hotel -

 **BEEP** **BEEP** , **BEEP** **BEEP** , **BEEP** **BEEP**.

"Huh?" grumbled Waluigi, who had just woken up to the sound of the alarm clock that had been placed right beside his bed. Reaching out for it lazily with a single arm while his head was still buried in his pillow he ended up falling off of his bed with a thud in the process of trying to turn it off.

 **BEEP BEEP, BEEP BEEP, BEEP BEEP, BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP-**

"Just shut up already!" he yelled as he slammed his fist down on the alarm clock, finally ending the racket, as well as slightly damaging the alarm clock. "Finally," he told himself as he began to get up from his deep slumber that he had been in. With sagging shoulders and a face that could possibly remind one of a nightmare, Waluigi got up and continued to head out of his room. He had merely slept in his regular clothes, so there was no need to change. Heading out the door, Waluigi was greeted by the many other tired faces that he had come to know as the other players.

"I'm already starting to hate those stupid alarm clocks," Hammer Bro told them, making the others grunt in agreement.

"Well, at least we probably won't have to deal with them for too much longer," Koopie said hopefully.

"Greetings players!" greeted their host, who had appeared from just down the hallway. "And actually, those are our very special The Mole alarm clocks, meaning that they'll be around until the very end," he said with a grin.

Groans were the main reply, making him laugh, with the other players who had gotten up earlier before the alarm clocks had gone off laughing with him.

"Now, enough chit chat, for we must head towards our next location. Pack your bags if you haven't already players, for we're going to one of the greatest highlights of the Mushroom Kingdom! The legendary city, the Mushroom City!"

The players cheered, with Toad in particular looking quite elated about that, as that was where he had grown up and lived his whole entire life. With the players going back to their rooms to go fetch their bags, they had a nice breakfast, and then in no time they were bidding farewell to the hotel and the peaceful little village of Petalburg. Mushroom City was awaiting them. The players all hopped on a bus that had been parked right outside the hotel, and in mere moments they were off, the scenery laid out before them the finest that most of them had ever seen in their entire lives. A rather soothing transition was made as the players saw endless flowers and great hills in the background, white and puffy clouds high in the sky. The only beings out there were the wildlife, with many astonishing creatures. Toad almost could've sworn that he had seen a paratroopa with a mailbag in the distance, which made him laugh, but also puzzled him. He had never seen such a sight before in his entire life.

"Well players, I congratulate you all for making it past the first execution," announced Monty after a time. "Obviously Pauline was not nearly as lucky, but the rest of you have all made it to the second episode!"

The players cheered, but the cheering was slightly slower and quieter, as most of them had come to like Pauline despite the short time frame.

"However, another one of you will be leaving in a couple of days, so by no means should you let your guard down. We have plenty left to go through, but I'm afraid that only three of you will truly be able to experience it all. Last episode, there were two possible exemptions, as well as one plus one. For every other episode from here on out though, there will only be one exemption, one or two plus ones, and also one of two things that have not yet been explained to all of you. Please remember that this fact will _never_ change. Ever. Keep that in mind. And with that out of the way, please, enjoy the ride and relax as we make a soothing transition into Mushroom City."

The players pondered his words, some more concerned than others. Every episode, the intensity of the game would be bumped up by a notch. Sooner or later, the mice would be separated from the men. It would become clear as to who really is controlling the game. And every time someone went home, the mole was one step closer to victory.

Dixie: With Pauline out, it certainly adds some mistrust and uneasiness among the group. The group no longer really seems to get along perfectly, because everyone is now concerned about who the mole is. You really have to think about the people that you know Pauline trusted, though. Or did she even trust those people at all...

Crump: I think that Fawful and I have a good plan for this game. We both made it past the first execution too, so that's a pretty good sign that he's not the mole and that we're both going for the right people. I just have to figure out how I'm going to beat him in the end, and then I'm set for glory. Buh huh huh huh huh huh huh!

Starlow: With my coalition partner out of the game, it really hurts me. Then again, I guess that it kinda helps me in a way, because now I know that we probably went for the wrong people on the quiz. The only other explanations are that maybe everyone knows who the mole is and Pauline was just the lowest scorer, which seems ridiculously unlikely, or she went for different people than what we had discussed. But would she really try to lie to me like that?

The ride to Mushroom City was beautiful, but with that came the price of its enormous length. Hours passed, with no sign of Mushroom City. The scenery had turned into just hills stretching out for miles, an endlessly blue sky meeting the tips of them. Finally however, after many more hours, Mushroom City began to come into view. The players' eyes widened as they saw the greenery turn gradually into something that was slowly becoming more and more civil. Street lights began to appear to light the way, as it was now almost 10:00 PM. Other buses and cars became less uncommon, before suddenly becoming very common. Lights soon gleamed everywhere, buildings had begun to come into view. Skyscrapers towered above them, some of them high above the clouds. Traffic was still fairly heavy in the bustling city as they saw people walking down the streets and sidewalks. A huge train blared in the distance, and shops began to come into view. The players saw many places and people, including the many restaurants the city offered, some jewelry shops, rundown buildings, and people smoking cigarettes, making the people walking behind them cough with distaste. Large crowds were everywhere, usually crowding in front of some celebrity that was around. Homeless people looked at the rich with sadness and jealousy, rich people looked at the poor and scoffed. The noise was deafening, car horns being honked being everywhere and truly anywhere. It was a strange place that had a strange mix of both dreams being made and broken, similar to the game that the eleven of them were all in. When the players arrived at their hotel, they took note of the fact that it was a five star hotel, the building regal and towering above them in the smoky, heavily polluted air.

"Welcome players, to one of the greatest highlights of the Mushroom Kingdom, Mushroom City!" announced their host once everyone had gotten off of the bus.

Many pairs of eyes flew around, most of them trying to take in the phenomenal views and the city's dazzling lights. Dazzle's eyes in particular flew over and stayed glued to a gem store, which the others took note of.

"This players, is where you shall be staying for the course of this episode," he told them as he spread his arms out in front of the hotel.

"Wow," commented Hammer Bro, all of the others speechless.

"Wow indeed Hammer Bro. This was certainly not very cheap to get rooms for," he said as he eyed the producers. "You may all go inside now, if you wish. Or you may go out and explore the city a bit for maybe an hour or so. After that, you may all sleep soundly in our comfortable hotel that we have reserved for all of you. You may all choose who you wish to be roommates with as well. This time, there will be three rooms of three and one room of two. With that being said, please, and as always, enjoy yourselves in the famous Mushroom City," finished Monty as he began to head inside the fancy looking hotel.

The players immediately decided who was going to sleep with who as the rooms were decided in under a minute. The rooms were very similar to how they had been arranged in the first episode with most people happy about who they were staying with. Most people ended up going to explore the city, but Beldam was content with just resting at the hotel, so she ended up staying there. The rest of the players explored the city, with Toad leading and guiding them through it. It was the first time in his whole life that he felt like he was being a leader, and it felt great for the little guy. The sky was pitch black when the group returned, and most were ready to go to sleep. They were going to need it.

* * *

\- 9:00 AM, At the Hotel –

 **BEEP BEEP, BEEP BEEP, BEEP BEEP.**

"Uuuuggghhh," moaned Koopie, who had just been awoken once more by the "stupid" alarm clock as Hammer Bro had once put it.

Reaching out for the alarm clock while still having her face buried in the very comfortable pillow, she attempted to turn off the racket that was emanating from the clock. After several failed attempts, she sighed deeply, before eventually getting out of bed and turning off the alarm. Rubbing her eyes groggily, she got up, before being slightly taken aback by her new surroundings. While she had expected to see the usual beds, tiles, wallpaper, flooring, furniture, and windows like back in Petalburg, she was now met with the sight of a very large room, white and black furniture everywhere. The walls were white, the beds were black and the floor was tiled both black and white in a checkerboard-like formation. The room reminded Koopie of something one might find in a mansion of some sort, giving off a very authentic vibe about it.

She smiled, already enjoying her surroundings that she had ignored previously, when she heard a voice in the room adjacent to hers.

"Come on, just five more minutes! That's all I'm asking for! Five more minutes!"

"Dude, calm down," came another voice within the same room.

"But I need my beauty sleep!"

The sound of the constantly beeping alarm clock could now be heard.

"JUST SHUT UP!"

Several bangs were heard, followed by a loud and ear-splitting crash. Then, silence.

"You know, no offense, but I'm not really seeing the beauty," came the other voice again.

More crashes, followed this time by the sounds of running.

Koopie, along with several other players, looked out of their rooms, all of them looking at the source of the huge racket. Within a few moments of more stomping and running sounds, Hammer Bro could be seen sprinting out of the room, Waluigi hot on his trail. The others smiled and snickered a bit as they all headed back into their respective rooms to change and get ready for the start of a new day. After about fifteen minutes or so, the group had all entered the main lobby, most of them eating breakfast and waiting patiently for their host. Waluigi was still in a foul mood, while Hammer Bro seemed to be grinning from ear to ear, now taking pleasure in Waluigi's frustration.

"Good morning players," greeted their host as he walked in seemingly out of nowhere.

"Good morning."

"Hello."

"What's up?" were the chorus of responses made following his greeting.

Monty smiled, to which the others followed suit.

"So," he said, clasping his hands together. "Are you enjoying your stay here so far?"

More mixed responses, such as,

"Oh yeah."

"Definitely."

"Certainly."

"It's the best place I've been to in a while, and I live in this exact city," said Toad almost in a whisper.

Monty smiled once more.

"Glad to hear it. Today, you shall all being having your first challenge. However, do not be intimidated, for unlike the missions in the past, this one, as I'm sure you'll all find, will be far more enjoyable."

The players smiled again, though with some slight uncertainty.

Dixie: It was definitely a little bit suspicious. I mean, judging from what we've all seen in the past from the last episode, particularly the bag challenge, I think it's pretty safe to say that this game is not one to be trusted. At all. You can't trust the other players, you can't trust the game and it's challenges, you can't trust the host, and at times, I don't even feel like I can trust myself.

"But for the moment," continued Monty, "you may all simply enjoy your stay here. You may also explore the city some more if you like, but that decision is entirely up to you. Please be back here in the lobby by 2 PM though, or else consequences will be given out. Speaking of consequences," Monty said as he turned towards Waluigi.

Holding out a broken alarm clock that had been smashed relentlessly, he warned,

"If such an incident like this ever occurs again, I shall have to penalize the team pot. Do you understand?"

"Yeah, sure," Waluigi muttered, looking down at the ground, hard.

"Are you certain?" Monty interrogated.

Waluigi merely glared up at him. Lazers might as well have been shooting out from them.

"Yes, I am," spat Waluigi.

Monty pulled back, putting the shattered remains of what used to be Waluigi's alarm clock in a duffel back that was slung over his shoulder. And although few saw it, a grin tugged at the corner of his mouth as he turned to face the rest of the group.

"Well players, you are now free to go. Have a wonderful day," he told them, now grinning from ear to ear as the players began to head out the door in groups.

Waluigi was the last one to leave, still glaring at the host.

Several moments of silence passed.

"You know, you could go back to your room to get some more sleep if you so desire it," suggested Monty.

Waluigi remained absolutely still and silent, still glaring at him, before finally, he got up, and left Monty to be standing alone in the rather large lobby. Monty watched him enter his room once more, pulling the broken alarm clock once more. He smiled at it, before he put it away again and left the lobby to attend to the plans that he had set up for the players. It was going to be a fun day. Well, for him, maybe.

* * *

\- 2:00 PM, At the Hotel -

The eleven players all waited patiently for Monty to arrive for the second time that day as they began to feel almost jittery and quite curious as to what Monty had meant by "fun". The moment the clock struck 2:00, Monty entered the hotel.

"Thank you players, for all getting here on time. For this next mission, I would like everyone to divide into two different teams," Monty instructed. "I will need six people who consider themselves to be pros at driving, with the other five feeling that they know their teammates best. You have thirty seconds to make your decisions," he told them.

The players looked at each other quizzically, all of them wondering what was going to happen and how their roles would affect the game.

"I'll be a pro driver," started Crump.

"Same here, except that unlike you, I actually am one," stated Waluigi.

Crump didn't hear the last part, much to the relief of the rest. Nobody wanted another argument, especially one involving Waluigi in any way conceivable.

"I'll be in the other group; I hate driving," spat Beldam.

"Me too, I guess. I don't know. I'm definitely not much of a driver either, that's for sure," said Starlow with a smile.

Hammer Bro: I guess that gets me thinking, like, how does she even reach the pedals in the first place? Does she just have like someone else beneath her use them for her or something? Does she just drive _really_ slowly? Does she have to use like a brick for the pedals? Hmmmm….now _these_ are the deep questions in life that you gotta think about. Not who's the mole or what's the meaning of life. Pffft. Stupid people in life, you know?

"Wait, guys, maybe it's not actual driving like in a car, but maybe it's like driving in golf," Toad suggested.

"Well, yes, I suppose that could be a possibility, couldn't it?" mused E. Gadd.

This stirred up some confusion within the group.

"I mean, yeah, it could be driving like in golf, but this is a city with absolutely no greenery whatsoever except for moss," objected Koopie.

"That's also true," agreed Beldam. "I mean, do you _actually_ think that you're gonna play golf in a jam packed city? You'd have to go out for miles and miles before you got back to those plains way out there. You do live here, _right_?"

Toad shrank away a bit into his own shadow.

"How about a vote? We are civilized folk, are we not?" offered Fawful, who was tiring of their useless jabbering. "Who thinks that it means driving _in a car_?"

All but Toad raised their hands.

"Who thinks it means driving _in golf_?"

Toad raised his hand meekly, his hand just below his head for a few moments, before bringing it down and sighing. No one noticed except for the ones directly adjacent to him.

Dixie: Poor guy. He's so quiet in the first place, but whenever he seems to make some sort of statement, either no one notices or nobody agrees. No wonder he doesn't talk much...

Within a few more seconds of bickering, everyone had been placed into one of the two different groups.

"So for the drivers we have Crump, Waluigi, Toad, Koopie, Hammer Bro, and Dixie, and for the teammates group we have Beldam, E. Gadd, and Dazzle, Starlow, and Fawful. Is everyone okay with these arrangements?" Monty asked them.

The players all nodded their heads, most of them still slightly confused as to what was going to happen.

"So, I would like the pro driver group to please follow me and for the teammate group to please wait for me here," instructed Monty. He turned towards the teammate group. "Do not leave this area until I get back, or else penalizations will be had," he warned.

He then turned to face the pro driver group, where he put on a big smile, before saying, "And off we go. Follow me," and heading towards the next location for the six players with him.

The fun had already begun.

* * *

\- In the Middle of Mushroom City –

After about ten minutes of following Monty, the group finally arrived at a particular finish line in the middle of the city. One that Mario and his gang had used very often.

"Welcome players, to your first challenge," announced Monty. "In this challenge, you shall be racing against six other famous racers from the mushroom kingdom. Your goal will be to do the classic three laps around this also classic course, while trying to get all of you in the top six places. The most amount of coins that you can earn for this challenge is 15,000. Be warned however, that there will be drivers on the track - professional ones that is - that will be driving alongside you. There will also be the very classic Mario Kart items present within the race, so be extremely cautious about those as well. We are not responsible for any and all injuries or deaths that may occur during the race."

"Wait, I never agreed to _that_ ," Dixie interrupted.

"Actually, you did," countered Monty, his classic grin on his face. "You signed a paper, a rather lengthy one at that, that went over all of these details, and you agreed to it and signed your name on it."

"I don't remember that," she muttered. "Why did I agree to that?"

"With that out of the way," continued Monty, "we have selected the six carts that you may all use, but who gets what is entirely up to all of you. And before I start timing you on your selections, I might add that there is a plus one for whoever does the best, and a minus one for whoever does the worst, regardless of your actual placements. As you can probably guess, a minus one will unfortunately deduct one point from your score on the quiz, a priceless point that could possibly cost you your life in this game. These will be decided only between the six of you, not with the other racers in there as well. With that out of the way, you will all have exactly one minute to decide who gets what kart, and that time starts right...now."

The players wasted no time at all trying to determine who went where, with each person examining each and every kart very closely and carefully. There was a bright pink car that looked quite large with a cat tail in the rear, a tiny blue car, a black car that had flames spray-painted on it, a car that looked like it had belonged to Mario at one point or another in time, a purple car that had a mustache oddly spray-painted on the front of it, and, oddly enough, a Mercedes-Benz.

"What's with the Mercedes?" Koopie asked Monty out of curiosity.

"Er, well, you see, they promised to give us some money if we showcased their car, so-" Monty explained.

"Do you guys seriously not have enough money?" Koopie questioned him, cutting him off.

"Well, you see, the hotel _was_ quite expensive…" Monty attempted to explain.

Dixie rolled her eyes, before looking back over at the karts once more.

"Yo, what's with these karts?" Hammer Bro asked jokingly, walking by all of them and stopping to examine them closely. "I mean, if I had to buy a car that was unique, I would go to you guys. I mean, we got the kitty car, a badass monster truck shrunk down, a famously old fat plumber car, an apparently male car with a mustache, a Mercedes, 'cause that just screams Mario Kart, and a kiddie car." He looked at Monty. 'Where the hell do you guys get this stuff?"

"Ahem," started Monty, "if you don't mind, we'll be keeping our methods to ourselves."

"But I _do_ mind," Hammer Bro mumbled to himself, his comment inaudible to the others. "I wanna get in on that joint."

Despite the meticulous analyses the players had all made (except for Crump and Waluigi, whose definition of "meticulous" was looking at each car for two seconds and then moving on), there didn't seem to be many clues about what car would be best for them. Because of this, the players started to randomly select a kart based on personal preference of the styles.

"I call the monster truck!" Hammer Bro yelled as he practically jumped right into the car.

"I got this one," Waluigi claimed as he walked over to the purple car. They made for a good match.

"I'll take the pink one, it's kinda cute," Koopie announced.

"Let's go Mercedes!" yelled Crump a bit too loudly.

"This one's probably good," said Dixie as she took the red Mario car.

"Well then I guess I get this one," said Toad with a sigh as he clambered into the tiny blue car, which actually seemed to suit him quite well.

"Very well then," Monty said with a smile as he looked at all of the players and their individual karts. "With that out of the way..." he then beckoned towards a lakitu.

The lakitu then nodded his head, before turning to face the players. Behind them, six other karts drove up to them all of them in a line. Unfortunately for the players, their opponents would start ahead of all of them, with the leader being Bowser, followed by a Koopa, a Shy Guy, King Boo, Bowser Jr., and Dry Bowser (how could both Bowsers exist at the same time?), with the group following that, Toad bringing up the very rear of the pack. The lakitu then nodded his head once more before raising his arm and classically starting the race with a "3...2...1...GO!" and after that, they were off. Well, most of them were anyway. Everyone was zooming off, getting the classic boost at the beginning, but Dixie was struggling already. It took her about ten seconds before she was actually on the highway and racing away.

Dixie: For whatever reason, my car just wasn't working. It wouldn't start and it wouldn't even budge. After a couple of moments with no luck, I thought that I was going to be stuck there for the whole race. I was thinking, _At least I won't have to worry about injuries now_.

Moving on, at the front of the race was Waluigi and Bowser, who were battling it out for first place already as they swept through the first batch of item boxes.

"What?! A banana?! How is this supposed to help me?" the lanky man cried angrily as he threw it behind him carelessly.

"Oh come on!" yelled Bowser as he slipped on it; he had been slowly sneaking up on him at the time. Waluigi then continued to zoom off, taking no real notice of what he had really done.

Meanwhile, the other players were all huddled together, all of them bombarding each other with red and green shells in what looked like a Hunger Games bloodbath. Karts were flung everywhere, this way and that, as the brawl at the beginning of most Mario Kart races raged onward. The race had officially begun, and so far only the viewers were really enjoying it.

* * *

 **- Current Standings -**

 _ **1st:**_ _Waluigi_

 _ **2nd:**_ _Bowser_

 _ **3rd:** Crump_

 _4th:_ _Koopie_

 _5th:_ _Dry Bowser_

 _6th:_ _King Boo_

7th: _Hammer Bro_

8th: _Shy Guy_

9th: _Toad_

10th: _Bowser Jr._

11th: _Koopa_

12th: _Dixie_

At the back of the race was Dixie, who was still quite frankly struggling to get a hold on the controls. Ramming into a wall, followed by an item box, she could only hope for the best. Thankfully she got a star, but she wondered if it would really do her any good. Using it, the familiar theme played as she raced through the course, ramming into every wall and obstacle she possibly could have with the increased amount of speed. Nonetheless, she rammed into Koopa, who she thought might just be the only person she could possibly beat.

Meanwhile, Dry Bowser had just gotten a red shell, which he grinned he evilly at before signaling King Boo, who was right behind him. Using the red shell, he hit Koopie with it.

"Darn it!" she yelled as she lost her lead.

To make it worse, King Boo rammed her into the wall and then threw a green shell behind him, which also hit her.

"Really?!" fumed Koopie. "Those two are going down!" she exclaimed to herself while driving a little bit more fiercely than she had before.

Going back to the people farther back in the race, Bowser Jr. had just gotten his second item and was having it be determined when a familiar blue item appeared in his hand. An evil grin appeared on his face as he quickly threw it, knowing that Waluigi was probably in first place. And he was.

In first place, Waluigi was enjoying the luxury of having to do nothing with the other racers as his lead began to increase. Solid distance was beginning to be put between Bowser and himself, meaning that he could probably relax a little bit more. But of course he couldn't. Just when he began to let himself relax in his car a bit, a familiar sound came from behind him.

"Wait what? Already? It's like, not even half way through the first lap! This can't be possible!" he complained as the shell began to approach him.

Out of the corner of his eye however, he spotted a mushroom car, which he then rammed into. A mushroom flew out of the car, right in front of Waluigi. He could do it, he just needed to – **BAM**. The first place shell rammed into as his cart, with him still in it, flew up into the air.

"God damn it!" he swore as he was sailing high into the sky.

"Later loser!" Bowser called out to him while he laughed, and ended up taking his mushroom before classically driving right into a bomb car while he wasn't looking.

No, in the end it was Crump who ended up taking the lead, with Dry Bowser and King Boo following close behind. The race was already intense as the racers all tried their best to take first place.

* * *

 **- Current Standings -**

 _ **1st:** Crump_

 _ **2nd** **:** Dry Bowser_

 _ **3rd:**_ _King Boo_

 _4th: Bowser_

 _5th:_ _Waluigi_

 _6th:_ _Koopie_

7th: _Hammer Bro_

8th: _Shy Guy_

9th: _Toad_

10th: _Bowser Jr._

11th: _Koopa_

12th: _Dixie_

Going back over to the race that was currently being held, the race remained close and tight as the positions of the racers fell down and then went up, and then fell down and then went up, and then fell down and then went up as the race stayed as compact as ever. In the lower half of the racers, Toad was being targeted by Shy Guy and Bowser Jr., who were both trying to ram him into the many cars included in the race or the walls that trapped Toad inside of the race.

"Finally," Toad said to himself in relief that he had finally snatched one of the many item boxes that he continued to miss over and over and over again.

Checking the item that he was currently holding in his hand, he sighed with even more relief as a familiar looking bomb slowly started to have its fuse dwindle in size.

"Take that!" he yelled.

An explosion was heard behind him as Bowser Jr. fell behind the nine racers that had been in front of him. Glaring at Shy Guy, Toad attempted to push Shy Guy into one of the nearby walls so as to put him farther in the race. Shy Guy fought back though, which ended up resulting in Toad running straight into a car while he had been trying to ram Shy Guy into a wall.

With Shy Guy finally being set free from having to deal with Toad, he moved on to pursuing Hammer Bro, who was possibly the only racer who wasn't close to anyone in the race. Wordless and soundless, Shy Guy threw a red shell in front of him, expecting a reaction from Hammer Bro soon.

"Wait, what?!" yelled Hammer Bro as he was hit out of nowhere.

Shy Guy sped past him as Hammer Bro tried to comprehend as to what had just happened, as he hadn't heard, nor seen what had ever hit him. Driving a little bit more consciously, he proceeded to try to get in the top six.

At the back of the race however, Dixie was still struggling to get past Koopa, which wasn't very easy. Dixie, although she was in last place, got the worst of items that anyone could get at the very back of the race, while Koopa got bullet bills and stars constantly, although he was always pushed back down to the bottom places in a matter of seconds no matter how many bullets he got. That finally changed however, as Dixie nabbed yet another item box. This time however, it was a lightning bolt, which she quickly used out of pure excitement and watched as Koopa shrank down in size. Ramming into him, she yelled,

"Take that!"

The knock back from when Dixie had hit Koopa sent him flying into a bomb car due to his minuscule size, completely obliterating the lead he had had over Dixie. Of course, Dixie's lightning bolt had affected everyone, meaning that all of the items that everyone on her team had had were now simply lying on the ground, all of them either waiting for someone to use them, or crash into them. Dixie's thoughts darkened a little as she then remembered that the item she had just used might've just hurt her team more than help.

* * *

 **- Current Standings -**

 _ **1st:** Crump_

 _ **2nd:** Dry Bowser_

 _ **3rd:** Bowser_

 _4th: King Boo_

 _5th: Waluigi_

 _6th: Hammer Bro_

7th: _Shy Guy_

8th: _Koopie_

9th: _Toad_

10th: _Bowser Jr._

11th: _Dixie_

12th: _Koopa_

In the lead, Crump was slowly beginning to lose the distance he once had with his competitors. Bowser was now teaming up with his cousin(?), Dry Bowser, as they attempted to take Crump out of commission. They threw many green shells at him, as that is all they ever got, but none of them ever hit him. Either they flat out missed, or Crump managed to defend against the turtle shells with bananas. That changed however, as Crump and everyone else suddenly shrank down in size from what seemed to be lightning. With plenty of obstacles now on the already clustered track, they tried to now catch up to him using the smaller amount of decreased speed time that they had. Passing the finish line, the second lap began as the players grew back in size. Just behind them however, was Waluigi and King Boo, who were desperately trying to catch up to the others. Knowing that the other one could possibly ruin their chances of making it there, they began to throw items at each other, until King Boo drew close to Waluigi and whispered to him,

"The pain you inflict on others will be your own demise," he told him.

"And you not shutting up will be yours!" he snapped back at him before slamming a red shell into his cart.

Slightly miffed at what he had said, he quickly looked behind him, seeing that King Boo was now by Hammer Bro from the impact of the red shell.

Pondering his words, he wondered if what he had said were meant to merely get him distracted, or some sort of bizarre fortune telling that was going to come true. While this did indeed give Waluigi some time to ponder those very words, Hammer Bro was now having problems of his own with King Boo. Right when King Boo had seen him, an evil grin that creeped Hammer Bro out more than anything else in the world began to show on his face. Drawing close to him, similar as to how he done to Waluigi, he told him,

"Your playfulness and kind spirit shall be earning you your very own departure," he told him spookily.

With the greatest look of disgust on Hammer Bro's face from his words, he rammed him into a nearby car, putting King Boo farther behind. Hammer Bro couldn't shake off the words that he had said though, and he could not get the words out of his head.

Hammer Bro: I was completely spooked. I mean, that _is_ what he's supposed to do; scare people. But that was not what I wanted to be hearing at the time. I almost fear that what he said might be true, and that I might just be leaving in the next couple of days. After all, he has predicted a few things...but not all of them have necessarily been correct. My only hope is that he's just trying to throw me off my game a bit, so that he can win the race. I hope...

Going back to the other racers currently behind those in the front was an interesting match-up of Toad and Koopie vs. Bowser Jr. and Shy Guy. Shy Guy, the current leader of the group, attacked Koopie and Toad by continuously throwing bob-ombs behind him, while Bowser Jr., who trailed behind the duo, threatened to hit them with a variety of items, including stars, mushrooms, red shells, and mega mushrooms. To retaliate against their revolt, Koopie and Toad used POW blocks to fend off against Shy Guy and then throw any throwable items behind them. After many items being used with no success, it finally ended when Shy Guy threw a bob-omb at Koopie, who dodged it successfully. Following this she threw a red shell right behind her at the bob-omb and blew Bowser Jr. up high into the azure sky.

"Whatcha gonna do now?" Koopie taunted the quite literally shy guy.

Shy Guy, living up to his name at every possible moment, replied with hitting her with yet another bob-omb.

"Wait, another one? But you didn't even get another item box!" called out Toad, who had currently been thinking that Shy Guy was cheating somehow.

This was followed by some more silence before Shy Guy merely turned around, a new mask now on his face. It was one of a sinister grin, as Toad realized that in his hand was still one more bob-omb as he threw it behind him and watched as Toad flew up into the air.

* * *

 **- Current Standings -**

 _ **1st:** Crump_

 _ **2nd:** Bowser_

 _ **3rd:** Dry Bowser_

 _4th: Waluigi_

 _5th: Hammer Bro_

 _6th: King Boo_

7th: _Shy Guy_

8th: _Koopie_

9th: _Toad_

10th: _Bowser Jr._

11th: _Dixie_

12th: _Koopa_

Meanwhile, the racers were just passing the halfway point for a second time. The third lap had almost begun. In the middle of the race there was a rather interesting argument that was about to take place. As the racers struggled to get ahead of one another, a rather interesting conversation was taking place. Or rather, what started out as King Boo taunting Hammer Bro. The two would constantly switch places, with King Boo sticking his tongue out at Hammer Bro. Eventually Hammer Bro got sick of it however, and nabbed an item box.

"Will you ever stop?!" Hammer Bro retorted before looking at the red shell in his hand. Throwing it as hard as he could possibly throw it, he watched bug-eyed as the shell, for whatever reason, sailed past King Boo and struck Waluigi, who was just ahead of them.

"Nice shot genius!" Waluigi yelled at him as he fell back to where they were.

"King Boo was right there though! I was trying to hit him! The red shell just had other plans," defended Hammer Bro.

"Reeeeaaaalllllyyyyy," said Waluigi as he, without even looking, threw a green shell behind him that hit King Boo, sending him back.

An explosion was then heard as King Boo had actually been hit into a bomb car when he had been hit with the shell, sending him even farther back.

"Do you think I got you on purpose?" asked Hammer Bro.

"Yeah, I think I do. Mole..." he muttered.

"It was an _accident._ Besides, because we just got King Boo off of our trail, we're still in the top six," explained Hammer Bro.

"Nice try, but Waluigi knows what you're up to," he drove closer to him. "Waluigi knows _everything_."

Hammer Bro gave him a funny look.

"It was an accident dude. This game isn't perfect, just like you," argued Hammer Bro.

"Hey, watch your mouth! The great Waluigi is far greater than you'd ever dream of being," Waluigi remarked.

"Dude everyone is imperfect and equal, chill. Just because you're an exception to the rule because you suck so much doesn't give you the right to be a huge dick to everyone."

Waluigi slammed a green shell into Hammer Bro's kart with a frightening amount of ferocity.

"Watch what you say loser!" Waluigi cackled, looking behind himself.

Hammer Bro muttered multiple curses under his breath, each one slowly getting more and more offensive than the last. He was getting pretty tired of Waluigi, as were most. Retrieving an item box, Hammer Bro got a red shell and chucked it at Waluigi, completely and entirely meaning to do harm to his teammate this time around.

"You bastard!" cursed Waluigi. "You're going to pay for that you know!"

"I already have! I have to spend time with you and your stupid face!" retaliated Hammer Bro.

Waluigi's face turned red, his mouth opening as he said, "Why you little-" unfortunately for him and Hammer Bro, he never got to finish his sentence as both of them were sent flying into the air from a bob-omb that had been throw from someone behind them.

Both Shy Guy and King Boo then zoomed past both of them as the duo watched them go by. Their faces slowly turned towards each other, both of them still outraged at one another.

"You did this!" they both yelled simultaneously.

* * *

 **- Current Standings -**

 ** _1st: _**_Crump_

 _ **2nd:** Bowser_

 _ **3rd:** Dry Bowser_

 _4th: Shy Guy_

 _5th: King Boo_

 _6th: Hammer Bro_

7th: _Waluigi_

8th: _Koopie_

9th: _Toad_

10th: _Bowser Jr._

11th: _Dixie_

12th: _Koopa_

The racers were nearly finished with the race; they were all about at the halfway point on the third lap at this point. Koopa and Dixie were slowly approaching it, and Crump, Bowser, and Dry Bowser were nearly at the finish line. Waluigi and Hammer Bro were also both still steaming with rage that possessed them in horrid ways as they refused to let down their harsh glares at each other. Every once in a while they would throw green shells and red shells at each other, but they never ended up hitting each other again and always ended up just wasting their items. Shy Guy was still ahead of them by a bit and King Boo now approached them from behind (he had been hit by accident by one of Shy Guy's bob-ombs) as they were now trapped. Fortunately, Koopie and Toad were also now advancing through the race via mushrooms at a much faster rate, nearly catching up to their fellow teammates. As the group went through the next line of item boxes, they all got relatively offensive items, making for a few worried looks that were exchanged amongst themselves, though the glares that Waluigi and Hammer Bro continued to exchange did not break. After a few moments of silence however, the inevitable explosion of items began to break loose. Hammer Bro and Waluigi both threw red shells at one another, though only Waluigi managed to succeed, which received the most agonizing glare in return as Hammer Bro fell back. Hammer Bro's shell simply missed and hit a wall, breaking the moment it came into contact. Going along with that, King Boo threw a bob-omb at the lanky man behind him, which landed right in front of him, leaving little time for escape. Waluigi was soon thrown up into the air as he yelled,

"Are you _serious_!?" which led to Koopie smiling just a tad bit as she smiled at his poor luck.

With Koopie and Toad still having their items, Koopie whipped out her triple red shells and slammed one into the king of ghost's kart, taking advantage of his weakened and defenseless state. Throwing the next two at Shy Guy as the duo passed King Boo, Shy Guy actually managed to guard against the first one with a bob-omb, but was then blown up by his own bomb as he defended the shell with bob-omb right next to him. Unfortunately, this also blew up Koopie, leaving only Toad unharmed. Having only a banana (the only weak item that had been present), he held it behind him and drove onward, fearing that he would be hit immediately if he let go of it.

Meanwhile, at the very back of the race, Dixie was still struggling to deal with the kart's less than stellar controls and two of her opponents: Bowser Jr. and Koopa. Admittedly, none of them were very good drivers, and more often than not, the items they got only hurt themselves more than anything else. Whenever they got a star, it would just make too fast so as to have any control. The mushrooms followed a similar pattern, with the abrupt spontaneous speed boosts being too much for them to handle.

Eventually however, Dixie managed to get a hold of a first place shell, though she hesitated at first on whether or not she should actually use it.

Dixie: I was kinda scared to use it, honestly. I mean, it could help save the team and help us earn more money, or it could have the total reverse effect. But then again…

Within a few moments she threw the beast down the busy streets of the city as the winged shell took off in pursuit of its next victim.

* * *

 **- Current Standings -**

 _ **1st:** Crump_

 _ **2nd:** Bowser_

 _ **3rd:** Dry Bowser_

 _4th: Toad_

 _5th: King Boo_

 _6th: Hammer Bro_

7th: _Shy Guy_

8th: _Koopie_

9th: _Waluigi_

10th: _Bowser Jr._

11th: _Koopa_

12th: _Dixie_

At the front of the race, Crump was now in the homestretch of the race, the finish line in sight, and both Bowsers were slowly falling behind him. Holding a banana behind his kart for safety measures, he drew closer and closer to the checkered finish line, cars holding innocent citizens driving all around him. Just as he began to get past the final patch of item boxes however, something caught his eye from the mirror to his right.

"You gotta be kidding me," he grumbled to himself as he looked behind him.

Sure enough, what some had dubbed "the blue menace" had appeared just behind him, barreling towards the finish line, undoubtedly aiming for him. Crump panicked, and in a split second, with little thought put into it, he slammed on the brakes and came halting to a stop.

Bowser and Dry Bowser looked at each other confusedly, wondering what had happened, not aware of the incoming blue shell. Crump started to back up his kart as the idea started to solidify in his head; a smile was now on his face. The duo passed him, still confused as to what in the world he was doing. Crump only had to look up at the shell in order to get the Bowsers to realize what he had done. They both simply looked up at the shell, then at each other, and then back at Crump with the most frightening, agonizing looks on their faces before the shell slammed into Bowser, flipping both him and his skeletal self high in the air.

The bulky man behind them then zoomed past them, reaching the finish line with a grin on his face before claiming first place.

Bowser and Dry Bowser came through seconds later, steam practically coming from their heads as they glared at Crump. He only replied to this however with an odd combination of a sneer and a smile, though neither could tell he had done so under that mask of his.

After a couple of seconds, the other racers began to file in, one by one. Toad came in fourth, banana still in tow.

"I could've helped Koopie by throwing this at Shy Guy," he mumbled to himself, upset that he hadn't helped at all rather than realizing that it probably wouldn't have worked and the fact that he had just come in fourth place. Shy Guy came zooming in afterwards, to which Koopie came milliseconds afterwards, claiming sixth place. They cheered as the two exchanged stories with Crump, who was still grinning from his success. King Boo came through next, who was then followed by Waluigi and then Hammer Bro, who were both still glowering at one another, Waluigi in particular. Quite a bit of time then went by before Bowser's son and one of his minions, Koopa, came through, both of them looking exhausted.

"And, the race is over!" Monty exclaimed behind the group of racers, startling everyone. "It seems as though Dixie has come in last place, meaning that the results are in!"

The group of players huddled around him, though the other six seemed to wander away together in a separate direction.

"Since only the first six placements can earn you any money, I'm afraid that Waluigi and Hammer Bro, you have both failed to earn any money for the team pot."

Waluigi exploded with rage.

"He was ambushing me! He just started attacking me out of nowhere! I was doing so good until this loser, this MOLE, attacked me!"

"That is not true, at all!" Hammer Bro defended. "I hit you by accident, I swear! I even told you that and then you blatantly attacked me on purpose! And then you kept on attacking me for no reason!"

"Don't bother trying to deny it you little-"

" _Anyway_ ," Monty said rather abruptly and quite loudly, cutting Waluigi off. "We must attend to what you have earned for your part of the challenge. For your part of the challenge, you have earned a total of….7,250 coins!"

The players clapped extremely mildly, for the attention was still centered on Waluigi and Hammer Bro's argument.

Koopie: It was definitely kind of weird, watching them argue over who did what. Personally, I trust Hammer Bro more than Waluigi, and I feel like just about everyone feels the same, but I really don't trust either of those two guys. After all, I don't trust anyone in the first place. Somehow I have a feeling that this isn't going to be settled very easily…

Toad: I wanted to try to break the argument up, but honestly, I was too scared to do it. Waluigi would probably start to attack me too anyway, so it wouldn't have been worth it. I just wish that we could all get along well without having to worry about who's right and who's wrong and who's trustworthy and who's not because I just don't even know anymore. *sigh*

Waluigi: I swear, he hit me on purpose! But do I actually think that he's the mole? Nah, not that loser. But can I play this to my advantage? Yes. Definitely yes…heh heh heh…..

Hammer Bro: Waluigi was really trying to pin the blame on me, even though it really _was_ an accident. People trust me more than him though I think, so maybe I could try to play this to my advantage…

Crump: Those two losers Bro and Luigi guy are pretty mad at each other for some stupid reason, I dunno. All I care about is that I won. They probably think that they should've won, but it's this guy's fault because he did this. Wa wa wa. Should I call the wambulance? Whatever. Wimps.

Silence ensued for a good deal of time before anyone spoke, until eventually thoughts of when Dixie would arrive began to intrude their thoughts. The argument subsided momentarily as the group started looking down at the track in hopes of seeing her. There was no such luck. After a few minutes, Monty walked over to the nearby lakitu that had started the race, and whispered to him for a bit. The lakitu nodded once he had finished, and then he was off, most likely to find the lost player.

"Well, players," Monty announced as he walked back over to them. "You may head back to the hotel if you so desire, or you may walk around the city some more if you so desire. In the meantime, I shall be attending to the rest of your fellow teammates for their part of the challenge. Please be at the hotel by 6 PM too, or else consequences will have to be expected." He looked at all of them with a smile. "Now please, enjoy the rest of your day."

The group disbanded, none of them really seeming to want to go together, though Toad stuck with Koopie out of fear of encountering Waluigi somewhere along the way.

Monty looked at all of them leave before turning around and heading towards the east side of the city. It was time to see how much faith their fellow teammates had in them.

* * *

\- Outside the Hotel -

Meanwhile, the other players had still been waiting patiently for their host to arrive. They paced back and forth for quite some time before their feet started to hurt, leaving them simply standing there. After about an hour however, a figure could be seen in the distance, making his way over to them. The players all stood, eager to see him and what they had to do next. Once Monty walked over to them, he continued to walk past them, telling them, "Come, we must get to our destination quickly; we are running late on time."

The players quickly ran up to him, finding that once they had caught up, it was hard to keep up the same pace Monty was going at due to his very long strides, especially for his very short legs.

"So why will we be needing to know each other well, specifically?" asked Beldam after some time.

"Oh, you'll see," their host answered them almost eerily.

They eventually reached a deep crimson building named the "Delphino Casino" in giant bold and almost gilded letters before entering the fine looking building. The building had seemingly hundreds upon hundreds of people crammed inside the building, most of them playing on slot machines that were squished together in great numbers. Also there was a giant wheel, tables for games of poker, jack black, and many other card games, and a bar that was to the left in the structure of the building that was simply jam packed. The walls were a rosy red, similar to the piantas' vests that were everywhere, most presumably the workers. The rooms had a seemingly golden outline, truly making the casino seem royal in every way possible.

"Please follow me," he told them as he led them through multiple rooms crowded with people.

With each room that they went through however, less and less people were there until they reached a door that said "Reserved" with a bold black color. Using a key to unlock the door, the game show host led them inside, the room being quite small with only a rather old computer resting on a wooden table in the back and nothing else. Once all of the players had entered, Monty shut the door before walking in front of the group of five players.

"Welcome players, to your first challenge. The other six have just finished their own part of your challenge. Their job was to race on the famous racetrack of Mushroom City with six other well known racers and try to take the best place possible. Depending on what place they got, varying amounts of coins would be awarded. If they got anything lower than 6th place though, no coins would be awarded to the group team pot. Now, here comes your part," he said with a grin. "Your task, as a group, will be to place bets on who got which place. You won't actually have to bet any cash from the pot, so there is no possible way to lose any money during this challenge."

The players eyed him suspiciously at that part however, and for good reason.

Starlow: I've only played this game for a few days, but I think everybody learned basically from the second day that you don't trust anything in this game. And the person I trust the least in this game: Monty. He could probably be the game's mole if he wasn't the host.

Monty continued, "If you can guess the final position of a racer from our team, 2,500 coins will be added to the team pot. If you're one place away, 1,500 coins will be awarded, and if you're two places away, 500 coins will be awarded. This means that a total of 15,000 coins can be won from this challenge. It should also be noted here that while a unanimous vote is not required for the final bets, there does need to be a majority vote favoring the final guesses. You will have fifteen minutes to decide on who you think came in what place. Then I shall return and the vote shall be made. If there is not a majority vote favoring the guesses, we will move on to Plan B. With that out of the way, are there any questions?" he finished.

No sounds were to be heard except for the sound of a die hitting a table in a nearby room and a great yell of triumph from a man immediately after.

"Very well then. Your fifteen minutes start….now."

The players started thinking in their heads rapidly who would come in what place.

"Wait, who's even in that group?" Starlow asked.

"Oh, that reminds me!" remembered Monty just as he was opening the door. He walked over to a computer monitor in the back of the room that none of them had noticed previously and brought up a picture and put it in full screen view. "You can use this to help you if you need it. This picture was taken by one of our producers right before the race had started," he explained. "Good luck," he added as he walked out the door.

The players then gathered around the monitor, trying to get a glimpse of any possible clues that might point out who came in what place. The picture was taken from the side of the racers, and their six teammates were all in the back, at a disadvantage from the rest. They got to see who was in what place initially, and in what kart, but nothing really hinted them at anything.

Beldam: Some picture that was. It was completely useless! The only thing it did was remind _somebody_ who was in each group. And even then, she's only going to make things harder for us. Useless, all of them, getting in my way. If I got to choose everything by myself, this would be so much easier _and_ successful!

"Well, um, what do you guys think?" asked Starlow.

Fawful sighed. "It is mere luck, nothing more. This blasted game benefits the weak and punishes the strong, meaning that anyone can win, regardless of skill."

"Fawful's right," confirmed Dazzle, this being the first time she'd spoken up in quite some time to anyone, "it's pretty much a game of luck."

"Well, I mean, if someone was _really_ terrible at the game they still probably wouldn't win regardless of how many bullet bills they would get," pointed out Starlow.

"True, but everyone racing there said that they were pretty good drivers, and quite frankly, knowing all of those people, they all live up to that," objected E. Gadd.

"I guess that's true, yeah," admitted Starlow. She looked over at the screen. "Do you guys think that there's some kind of clue on there?"

"Most likely," E. Gadd answered as he took a few strides over to the computer screen.

E. Gadd: There was most likely at least _something_ of interest there. Something was probably edited into the picture so that it would tell us the final results in some shape or form. But where…

While Starlow followed him over to the computer, the other three, Dazzle, Fawful and Beldam, discussed their opinions, thinking that there was no such clue on the computer.

Fawful: Those fools thought that there was actually something to hint them in the right direction! Of course, I knew better, and so I stayed and argued what I thought to be right. It was a simple task: take your best shot at who you thought was going to end up where, and that was it. It should've been quite simple and easy. It wasn't.

"I imagine Waluigi coming in first place honestly," Beldam suggested. "He seems like he races a lot, so he would probably win."

Fawful shook his head in disagreement. "No, I'm under the belief that he would lose to some of his other fellow competitors. He doesn't have the most likable personality; a head of lettuce in a children's candy store. Out of place and distasteful in personality. I imagine they would hit him with items out of pure hatred more than anything else."

"Even if it might hurt the team pot?" questioned Beldam.

"Yes," chuckled Fawful, "yes. Just to seem like they were the mole by hitting one of their own teammates. That is _exactly_ what people would do."

Fawful: With the first execution behind us, I think it's at this point of the game where people start playing dirtier. They realize how fragile everyone is, and then they start getting more strategic with their strategies. _That_ is when people's real personalities will begin to shine.

* * *

\- 6 Minutes Left -

"Are you sure that there's a clue on here?" moaned an exasperated Starlow. She was tired of searching for nonexistent clues.

"Not entirely," E. Gadd responded, "but I'm still thinking that there's something here."

Starlow sighed deeply. They had been talking over some very minor details like the color of the karts, the people in the background, the buildings in the background, for nine straight minutes. Out of it, they had achieved nothing.

"Please stay though. I think we're on to something!"

"I think I'll pass," drawled Starlow before shuffling over to her other, currently bickering teammates. "So, what have you come down to so far?"

"So far? Nothing," Beldam responded sharply while banging her fist on the table.

Beldam: So far we've had nothing productive at all. Fawful keeps on wanting to make totally random guesses because it's a "game of luck", E. Gadd and Starlow were spending all that time searching for "clues" and Dazzle was spending all that time doing absolutely nothing, with no quotation marks! She literally did nothing that entire time! What was I saying earlier about doing it all by myself…

"Nothing?!" exclaimed Starlow. "Well haven't you guys been talking about the possibilities?"

" _We_ have," Beldam answered whilst gesturing towards her and Fawful, "but Dazzle's been doing absolutely nothing!"

"Dazzle, come join us," coaxed Starlow.

Dazzle shuffled over _very_ slowly, to the point where a turtle could've casually walked faster.

"Didn't you guys ever ask her to join you guys in the debate?"

"Well, no," Beldam admitted. "I mean, you know me, I'm too kindly of a person to force people to do things that they don't want to do," she said with the most fake smile ever made.

Starlow: Reeeeally. 'Cause something's telling me otherwise.

"Hey, E. Gadd," called Starlow.

"Yes?" came a familiar voice.

"Come over here, let's just solve this together. Forget the clues," she instructed.

E. Gadd sighed, but he did not object or argue against her command. His eyes were starting to hurt a little bit from the screen's glare.

"Okay," Starlow sighed. "So, who should we start with?"

* * *

\- 19 Seconds Left -

"Are we okay with what this is like?" Starlow asked everyone.

Beldam grumbled something under her breath.

"What?"

"Nothing," replied Beldam coldly. "We're out of time anyway."

A few seconds of silence went by following that before the door quietly opened and in came Monty.

"Well," he announced, "have you came to a final decision?"

"Yes, we have," Starlow responded.

Beldam: Since when had Starlow become the leader of our group? That was supposed to be _my_ job. She just barged in and took control of the entire operation. Some people just don't know their place in the world.

"Well then who will come in what place?" Monty asked them.

The group then told him, one at a time, where they thought each person would end up at the end of the race.

"Very well then," confirmed Monty once they had finished. "Now, for the vote," he said with a grin. "How many people agree with these placements?"

* * *

 **He lives!**

 **VERY sorry for the massive hiatus! To be honest, I was considering just screwing it all and closing down the story due to a lack of motivation. But after reading some of my story and some future ideas that I have in store for this episode, I just had to come back. I couldn't just abandon this. However, although it's summer time, it'll probably take me a couple of months to get the next chapter up. But who knows, it might just come earlier, or maybe I'll just finish the episode and then upload them all at once in like six or nine-ish months. We'll just have to see. Right now I'm just happy I managed to get this up, although it's probably my least favorite chapter so far (maybe it's just because I spent so long here).**

 **For those wondering, yes, there is now a poll on my profile asking you about who you now think the mole is. You're also still allowed to have up to three choices on the poll since it's still pretty early on in the game.**

 **Also, just out of pure curiosity, who do you feel like when you play Mario Kart? Are you Dixie, the one struggling continuously to win, but to no avail? Or are you Crump, the one constantly pulling away from the crowd and dealing with all of the first place shells? Or are you perhaps Waluigi or Hammer Bro, the ones who rage at their friends for making some of the most dick moves? Toad, the one who can never seem to get any items? Koopie, the one who gets ganged up on by other players? Maybe none of them at all? Let me know in a review! Honestly I think I'm kind of Crump. So many people want to be way out in first place, but honestly, it's not all that great because it gets so boring up there. There's nothing interesting happening in first place. Even the first place shells aren't as bad as people make them out to be.**

 **And until next time we shall wait, where there lies the result of the first challenge, (probably) the entirety of the second challenge, as well as an exemption in store for one of them. Who will claim it this time around? Find out "soon"...**


End file.
